Hi. 
I have a navi RNS510 in my skoda superb.  It does not really work anymore.  I can turn it on and off.  Nothing else.  Neither buttons or the touch screen work.  The screen shows radio and no sound.  It just freezes on the Radio picture.  I have tried to flash it again as shown in pictures and there you can tap the screen and move on.  After full recovery, it returns to the same screen.  I have tried to disassemble the system but now continue to enter code on the screen. Its stock there. I can’t even press anything.

Anyone know if it can be fix or should I buy a new one?

 

 

There can be few reasons, mostly it is full NAND that must be erased and programmed from scratch, or faulty MPEG module.

So if its some of those faults would it be fixable? And how much would it cost?

 

Inadvertently answered what I was going to post..."is the Columbus HU coded"? Any idea where the code for it will be? I have all the documentation but there's no mention of it in the service book with the vehicle spec codes, colour code etc

No idea were to find the code. But i will buy a new one. I think even i spend money for fix my navi rsn510 it will get freeze again at any time. So i just order a new one. 

I just removed my RNS510 Columbus to replace it with an Xtrons 10" Android head unit. You can get them a lot cheaper than replacement RNS510s. Might be something to consider? I love my new head unit.

would be interesting to hear a lot more about your xtrons after you have used it for some weeks. what is better and worse than the rns510, how much it cost, how tricky to fit and do you retain the maxidot information etc

I've had it a couple of weeks now so I'll give you my impressions. Firstly, the unit. I went for an expensive one as I love gadgets (I'm in IT) and plan on keeping my car until it is uneconomical to repair (first car I've ever loved owning!). I got the IQ90MTVL model (£429.99) but any model with at least 2 GB RAM will be fine. 4GB will be better. I also got the tire pressure monitoring (£63.99) , the ODB dongle (£10.99) and the DAB radio dongle (£49.99). I wouldn't buy the TPMS or the DAB from Xtrons again as they are over priced. Any USB TPMS or DAB dongle will work with this unit. I wish I'd known this before purchase!

 

Fitting. This was very straight forward as the Xtrons unit is made for the Skoda so fits neatly in to the hole the old system left. Access to remove the old system is extremely easy as you just need to use a trim tool to pull off the rectangle of black plastic which surrounds the unit and then there are 4 torx screws (T15) to remove. One thing to be aware of is if you disconnect the passenger airbag sensor which is connected to the black plastic rectangle, you will trigger a warning on the ECU and you'll need to clear it with an ODB reader. I left it connected and just rotated the plastic out of the way when I fitted the new unit (be careful not to scratch the new unit on it!). I also left the battery connected throughout. The wiring harness was simple as the new unit came with a quad lock connector that snaps directly in to the car loom. This provides power and connects the car speakers to the head unit. It does not connect AM/FM, DAB,MIC or GPS. The new unit came with its own aerials for DAB and GPS. Put the DAB one in the bin, it's useless. The GPS unit works but you want it to see the sky wherever you decide to place it so it does end up cluttering the dashboard. I bought a Fakra to SMA connector from Amazon to connect the car's built in GPS aerial to the head unit for £7.99. I bough a dual fakra to DIN cable to connect the car aerials for AM and FM, again, £7.99. I also bought a magnetic stick on DAB aerial which works well but does result in some ugly wiring. My car doesn't have a built in DAB aerial so this will have to do as no way am I messing with the headlining to put a proper aerial in. DAB aerial was £13.99.

 

The new unit. Nice, clean looking, large screen. I installed the Agama car launcher (£2.49 I think) after playing with a couple of other options and I find that Agama suits my needs very well. The unit itself seems well made, solid components and many many connection options. It has a DSP audio chip built in and sounds much better than the old RNS510 did. I love having the entire Android ecosystem available to customize the capabilities of the car. I am using Torque combined with the dongle I bought for real time engine information, the TPMS alarms audibly if it detects an issue. I have Igo, Sygic, Waze, TomTom, Memory map and Google maps for navigation which covers me for online and offline navigating, all with decent real time traffic monitoring. Poweramp for music, plex for parked up entertainment. The unit is snappy and fast. I added a 128GB SD card to its "GPS" slot but this is just treated as extra storage labelled GPS. I put my 90GB of music on it and it plays fine. The new unit is better than the RNS510 in every measurable way. The startup time is sub 30 seconds from cold, noticeably faster then the RNS510. Sub two seconds from "warm". The screen is clearer and brighter, the sound, especially the bass, is much improved too. Steering wheel integration has been fully retained and additionally is now programmable if you want to add more controls. You also retain things like the climate control settings appearing on the head unit when you make changes as well as reversing tones and display for reversing sensors (I don't have a camera but am thinking about adding one). The unit also allows you to add Skoda branding to it and match it's colours to your car's interior or any other colour you like. You can make it look very factory fitted as it has no branding on the front.

 

The bad news. Maxidot integration is affected. You no longer have music titles being reported and the sat nav no longer integrates. So far I have been unsuccessful in integrating the car's Phone hands free functions with the maxidot. The maxidot will still control the phone and allow you to make calls etc but it doesn't route the audio through the head unit, just the phone. This may be fixable as I learn more but I hardly ever use the phone in the car so it's low priority for me. This may be a deal breaker for some but I normally have my maxidot on consumption anyway so this doesn't really bother me.

The other big downside that I can see is that this unit really benefits from being online. You can download apps and maps and music and keep it all local but this unit shines most when it's able to get live traffic updates, stream spotify and other online activities. This means you'll want to either be getting your phone to enable its wifi hotspot each time the bluetooth connects to the head unit automatically (it's a pain to remember to turn it on and off each time you get in and out of the car) or you'll want a 4G version/dongle and a SIM to get the most out of it.

 

Overall, I wish I'd made the change sooner. The new unit makes the car feel like a brand new modern day luxury vehicle. It can provide a wifi hotspot for passengers, good bluetooth built in, can handle up to four storage devices (3 x USB and 1 x SD) up 10 128GB each and is blisteringly quick compared to the RNS510. Multiple choices of navigation/music/movie/game software that simply isn't available to the RNS. Easy to update as well as maintain and based on an operating many people are already familiar with from their phone. I'd never replace the RNS510 with another RNS510, it'll be one of these units from now on.

 

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer while it's all still fresh in my memory.

very informative thank you.

I keep toying with the idea of fitting the extrons but for me the maxidot integration and even more phone integration is of the highest importance.

Also with the skoda sound system on the L&K I believe there is an issue / non compatibility.

 

I also am waiting for WIRELESS android auto so that I can get back to handsfree text replying like i could so easily with windows phone. 

I can understand that, all valid points. The head unit does work with hands free but it's not integrated with the maxidot. You're quite right about the L&K, I believe you have a nice amp connected to your speakers and this would definitely add complexity for you with an Xtrons. Mine's a bit more basic so was nice and easy.

On 03/01/2022 at 11:06, Fishlex said:

 you have a nice amp connected to your speakers and this would definitely add complexity for you with an Xtrons.

Yip looked into it and cant see a way round it
Also Xtrons has an official store on Aliexpress    £305.41 delivered for the IQ90MTVL

Am also sure you can tap into Infotainment  can bus signal to get the maxidot working

Will see where I got that info later tonight🤔

Thanks Delboy, looks like I could have saved some serious cash 😪. I'll have to investigate why my music and nav isn't making it to the maxidot, Could be to do with using Agama instead of the native  Xtrons launcher. I'll test it out as it would be nice to get that back.

Hiya!

 

I bought and installed the same unit (IQ90MTVL) earlier today in my Skoda Yeti. I'll share word document with photos that I created as I employed the tried and tested "trial and error" method. Documentation could have been better. 🙂 

 

I too bought a number of accessories (GPS, front-facing camera, rear-facing camera, TPMS, DAB+), some of which I wouldn't buy again (GPS, DAB+ (doesn't work in Ireland)).

 

Please give me a day or two to finish the document and I'll share the link to the upload site on here.

 

Sláinte!

 

Gaff

Edited 25 January, 20224 yr by GaffCelticViking

I'll be interested to hear how you get on! I'm still struggling to get a usable DAB signal on mine, I've tried ferrite cores and all sorts. It works about 70% of the time, certainly not as well as FM. Generally seems not worth the effort for DAB. The rest of the unit has been great, TPMS, Ignition, Igo for Nav and poweramp for music all running nicely on the Agama car launcher. I'm very happy with it overall.

Installing the XTRONS IQ90MTVL in a Skoda Yeti-compressed.pdf

 

Hiya!

 

Attached the installation document created for the XTRONS IQ90MTVL in a Skoda Yeti (PQ Platform). Please note that I have yet to install the DAB+ (don't have DAB in Ireland any more) and the two cameras. I still have connectivity issues I *think* will be resolved through a firmware update, though none exists for this unit as of yet.

 

Overall I'm pleased with the unit and recommend it to anyone wanting a good piece of kit. Please be aware of some of the concerns I have raised in the document though, as these may affect you to a greater extent than they do me.

 

Sláinte!

 

Gaff

Hi Gaff, What a great write up! Excellent pictures and descriptions, I wish I 'd had this before I did mine. I had the same issue as you with the TPMS and the bluetooth, what fixed it for me was just using a different TPMS app. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tpms3

Worked for me but I do hate the US flag on it 🙂

I have discovered something interesting when it comes to the maxidot integration. If I'm using the built in Radio or Music app, I get the Audio choice on my maxidot. If I use third party apps like Poweramp, I lose the Audio settings on the maxidot. I've yet to find a nav app that will pass through to the maxidot but I've only just figured out that it's app dependent so more experimentation is required here.

I've added a 4G sim card to mine which seems to work well. I was surprised that the unit will only utilize the SIM for data and will not allow it to be used for calls or texts. I guess that's just my ignorance and unfamiliarity with the technology.

Given my experience of the DAB so far, I'd say you're not missing much. I can't seem to get a solid signal out of it despite using the car's built in aerial.

Speaking of the aerial, have you tried connecting to the car's GPS aerial rather than the soppy little one that comes with the unit? I was able to use the car's built in GPS antenna on my Superb and it locks on straight away and never seems to lose signal (barring tunnels).

 

My ODB II is a bit flaky on the connection front but turning the dongle off and on again normally fixes it for me.

One other thing you've probably already figured out but this unit has a microSD slot labelled GPS on the front. This is essentially just another SD card slot and can be used to store music, movies etc. It can even be formatted to be extra app space for the head unit should you need it.

 

I'll be interested to hear about your ongoing journey with the unit, I'm still playing with and refining mine. I love it so far but as you have rightly said, the available documentation on these things is almost non existent. You've done a good job on adding to the knowledge here, thank you.

 

 

Hiya!

 

Some updates on the use of the XTRONS IQ90MTVL.

 

Antenna and GPS "Puck" Placement

Installing the antennas (WiFi, 4G) the GPS "Puck" under the lid of the top dashboard container works well. GPS navigation works well with no issues in finding and accessing satellites. 4G connectivity (data only) is good and works well. I think the antenna placement is good, despite my initial concerns.

 

USB Connectors

USB Connectors are also placed under the top dashboard container (cables fed though a hole drilled in the bottom of the top dashboard container) and I connect my Android phone there for Android Auto.

 

Bluetooth and Link Connectivity Issues

Bluetooth on the IQ90MTVL does not show available bluetooth devices (for example mobile phones) though phones find and connect to the IQ90MTVL. OBDII connectivity is fine after multiple retries to connect. The TPMS application talks to the TPMS caps, though does not receive data such as tyre pressure and temperature. I've yet to install another application for this. I did find under the extended settings (access code: 126) that I can select different TPMS applications/settings, and I'll try some of these before installing another application.

 

Display and Functionality

The display is gorgeous, clear, and big for the space that is available. Touchscreen is responsive and accurate, though I occasionally engage the buttons below the screen (volume up/down) when swiping thorough the applications. Using my Google account I access the some of the same apps I have on my phone.

 

Sound and Microphone

Sound is superior to what I had with the Amundsen, clearer and louder, despite not having fiddled with the equaliser. Radio is good, with clear reception using the built-in antenna (same as the Amundsen). Phone calls are clear and people hear me clearly too with minimum peripheral noise.

 

Issues

I can't connect my wife's Apple iPhone 13 to Apple CarPlay over WiFi, and it's dodgy over bluetooth too. I think I need a firmware update as I suspect the bluetooth functionality has issues.

 

All-in-all I'm over-the-moon with the IQ90MTVL. It's better, more responsive, has more and better features, and all at a lower cost than buying a like-for-like replacement.

 

My next step is to install the front DVR and rear parking camera. I'll share updates on this too.

 

Sláinte!

 

Gaff

 

 

 

 

I'm really looking forward to your write up on the DVR and especially rear parking camera as I'd really like to add one too! Which parking camera did you go for?

Hiya!

 

I bought the following as accessories when I bought the IQ90MTVL:

Front DVR -> XTRONS ICE/SS/DVR030

 

Rear Parking Camera -> XTRONS ICE/SS/CAM005

I should have bought this instead as it fits the Škoda Yeti better: https://www.automeedia.ee/en/a/skoda-fabia-yeti-reversing-camera-compatible-with-android-player-xtrons-camskfb01 I think it replaces one of the registration plate lights. I'll have to drill holes for the one I have.

 

Sláinte! 🥃

 

Gaff

Reading this with a bit of deja Vue, in my previous, (just departed) yeti , i swapped out Bolero, for an Xtrons IB90MTLV unit, other than not being given an harness to connect 

to VAG group cars ,found it ok, I too wanted it more for the app based system ,rather than pure sound, I tried TPMS , but no app could give me a consistent reading, my IPhone 12 would not connect with CarPlay at all, tried various dongles,all returned, NO support from Xtrons what so ever, I was happy with it,

the camera I have is from Ali Express, look there for them, they do some better than the one on the link, straight replacement with numberplate light,they even come built into the rear door latch also, wiring it is a bit of a problem, getting it into the rear door and keeping the voltage stable . 

Try audiotech direct ,good model specific range and very helpful, 

Thanks Wingnut! I'm busy eyeing up the Audiotech website now, I somehow hadn't found it. What would be the better option in your experienced opinion, a number plate light based reversing camera or one that is integrated with the boot handle?

I found the number plate light easy to fit ,check as there a few sizes ,remove you light. And measure it, a lot are bolt fixing ,no good for you , the one i got has a led for the light,brings a bulb warning up when main lights are on, but i lived with that. If you get an led one you will need a voltage filter, this keeps a constant supply after reverse is selected, see if I can get a picture uploaded for you . 

The model I got from Audiotech was for an Audi,  model Audi1 at £24.99

hope this helps, if I can find the wiring instruction I’ll post them

 

Outstanding info, thanks again Wingnut! Nothing like speaking to the voice of experience when it comes to these things so thanks for sharing. Sounds like a bulb one rather than an LED may be the way to go as I'm not fussed about the light type, just want the camera really and I hate warning lights.

The led one was the only one I could find, BTW , the size of the lamp has to be 75mmX 32mm, the bulb warning only comes on at night,NOT with DDL, (running lights), 

the one Celtic put in as a link is too big for the hole, look around there are direct replacements, in fact buy a second led light and get it coded out!, 

 

Celtic, your instructions spot on, I too had to buy an extra quad lock lead, even though I bought it direct from Xtron,Skoda specific, I ran the cabling down the near side behind the glovebox, don’t unplug the airbag switch,needs a laptop to remove warning, then under the carpet on the sills to the rear, a bit of a pig to get it through the back, or in the roof lining might be easier to get through the flexi tube on the tail gate, tailgate lining a bit of a pig to get off first time, I could actually hang on it while my son held it open LOL, 

this is the back of the unit I have, BTW where are you in Dublin? ,just. With Dunnes being 4 Km away,