We have just bought a Karoq Sportline diesel and are generally happy with it except for the Amundsen unit. It was ex demo from a Skoda dealer, and was first registered on 29 Sept last year. The car is supposed to have had the MY22 update/facelift but has some oddities associated with that change. We traded in a Passat (18plate) which had a Discover Media (DM) Infotainment unit which is essentially the same unit as the Amundsen - after a fashion! Can anyone here steer me in the right direction to resolve what my wife and I see as issues with the way it works please. I believe my Amundsen is MIB3.

 

The car does not come with a handbook any more - it is "on the Infotainment unit" but what is there is useless. For example where are the fuses, how does one access their hidey hole, and which fuse controls what? I found a handbook on line (more of that in a moment) which shows all of that information (it is 328 pages long!) but there is nothing available in the car. I went digging on line and found a page where I could download a manual. There were three for 2022 - Feb, June, and Nov - but when I enter my car's VIN it shows the relevant handbook as the February version. Eh? For a facelifted model first registered in 9/22 surely it should have been at least the 6/22 ?

 

Satnav: is there any way of getting rid of that stupid bullseye screen every time I select Nav? Also is there any way of getting rid of the residual PoI icons that hover all over the place? How does one update the maps - yes supposedly over air but mine have version 306 which reading this forum suggests cannot be updated.

 

Music: unlike many people these days I do not live on my smartphone - indeed I only have one so that we can interface with various operations that you cannot access without one - e.g. Waitrose offers. On the DM there was a SD card slot in the glovebox and a USB-A in the armrest both of which can be used to update maps, update radio station logos, or play music. There are now just two USB-C sockets where the ashtray would have lived but if I plug in a flash drive with maps, logos, or music on it the Amundsen sees the drive but just says it cannot find any files. This is annoying particularly for the station logos: the logo file for the previous version of the Amundsen (MIB2?) was dated 2020 and contained 679 logos; the last file I downloaded for the DM dated 2018 had 739 logos - including Classic FM and Smooth UK, both of which are missing from the Amundsen file. Why for heaven's sake, they come from the same place after all?

 

Finally, despite trying maybe 50 times, I cannot register a primary user. When it gets to the page where it asks for the keys to be actioned quite often the icon and counter doesn't appear on screen. Repeating the process maybe 6-8 times eventually the key counter comes up. I press the buttons as quickly as I can commensurate with the screen showing detection and they register on screen but then nothing happens for 30 seconds or so when a message comes up saying it has timed out. I repeat the process perhaps three or four times and at some point a message shows saying that it has already registered one key so please use a different key. Er, help?

karoq online manual - fuses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maps will update automatically whenever you drive into an area with updated maps (as long as you have a current online licence). My car is on software version 0276 still but the maps are currently showing as version 22.12. You can check this via the Menu / Settings / System Settings / System Information screen on the Amundsen display. But if you are having problems registering as a primary user, then this could be a problem. 

 

You are stuck with the radio logos provided by Skoda as there is no way to add your own as we used to on older systems. But I have no problem playing music from a USB-C drive in the socket in front of the gear lever. I use one of these: 

Integral 128GB Fusion Dual USB-C & USB 3.1 Flash Drive - 200MB/s £19.99 - Free Delivery | MyMemory

 

The facelifted car will have the same infotainment system as cars made since August 2020 I believe, but it is easy to tell which you have as the rear lights look very different. See here for an example:

Skoda Karoq (2022) - picture 64 of 232 - 1024x768 (netcarshow.com)

 

The facelifted car was announced in November 2021 (see The new ŠKODA KAROQ is here - Škoda Storyboard (skoda-storyboard.com) 

so yours could well have been produced in February in preparation for its launch in the UK early 2022.

 

Chris

 

Edited 5 March, 20233 yr by CJJE

6 minutes ago, CJJE said:

The maps will update automatically whenever you drive into an area with updated maps (as long as you have a current online licence). My car is on software version 0276 still but the maps are currently showing as version 22.12. You can check this via the Menu / Settings / System Settings / System Information screen on the Amundsen display. But if you are having problems registering as a primary user, then this could be a problem. 

 

You are stuck with the radio logos provided by Skoda as there is no way to add your own as we used to on older systems. But I have no problem playing music from a USB-C drive in the socket in front of the gear lever. I use one of these: 

Integral 128GB Fusion Dual USB-C & USB 3.1 Flash Drive - 200MB/s £19.99 - Free Delivery | MyMemory

 

Chris

 

 

Thanks Chris.

Two questions: is it likely that because I cannot establish myself as a prime user that I cannot play music via USB (it works OK on Bluetooth from a phone)?

Secondly, in what structure is your memory stick formatted - I would guess exFAT for one of that size - and how is your music structured? Is it in directories that reflect album titles or types of music, or is the whole lot just one list? 

 

Woody

 

I've added more info to my reply, so you need to re-read that too.

 

You can format the USB drive in VFAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS, and I just copied the MP4 files from my PC in a folder for each CD/album. They are then displayed with the artist, track name, album name etc (and usefully you can set favourite artists, genres, or albums to quickly select the desired tracks). 

 

I don't know if you need to be set up as a primary user to use a USB drive (I wouldn't have thought so to be honest) but this does need to be resolved. Is there an existing user that needs to be removed first perhaps? I was able to set myself up fairly quickly, but the procedure is quite strict on how you do it. (I did it back in November 2020 so my memory is a bit hazy now.) But I remember I needed to have all the car keys with me, and my phone. If you can download a user manual that should guide you through it, otherwise complain to the dealer who sold you the car. 

 

My car came with a printed manual, but even that referred me to a downloadable manual for details of the Amundsen (but that was when the MIB3 units had just been released). I also hate this "green" idea of not providing written user manuals, but I'm of a generation who received a bookshelf of manuals back in the 1980s when I first installed MS Office onto a PC!

 

Chris

 

 

2 minutes ago, CJJE said:

I've added more info to my reply, so you need to re-read that too.

 

You can format the USB drive in VFAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS, and I just copied the MP4 files from my PC in a folder for each CD/album. They are then displayed with the artist, track name, album name etc (and usefully you can set favourite artists, genres, or albums to quickly select the desired tracks). 

 

I don't know if you need to be set up as a primary user to use a USB drive (I wouldn't have thought so to be honest) but this does need to be resolved. Is there an existing user that needs to be removed first perhaps? I was able to set myself up fairly quickly, but the procedure is quite strict on how you do it. (I did it back in November 2020 so my memory is a bit hazy now.) But I remember I needed to have all the car keys with me, and my phone. If you can download a user manual that should guide you through it, otherwise complain to the dealer who sold you the car. 

 

My car came with a printed manual, but even that referred me to a downloadable manual for details of the Amundsen (but that was when the MIB3 units had just been released). I also hate this "green" idea of not providing written user manuals, but I'm of a generation who received a bookshelf of manuals back in the 1980s when I first installed MS Office onto a PC!

 

Chris

 

 

 

+1 the last paragraph - definitely!

 

I'll have another go tomorrow with a new flash drive. I am currently using a micro flash/SD/USB adapter and cannot be sure if it works as I have nowt else that uses USB-C!!

 

 

 

13 hours ago, CJJE said:

 

 

My car came with a printed manual, but even that referred me to a downloadable manual for details of the Amundsen (but that was when the MIB3 units had just been released). I also hate this "green" idea of not providing written user manuals, but I'm of a generation who received a bookshelf of manuals back in the 1980s when I first installed MS Office onto a PC!

 

Chris

 

 

 

I think I have those same manuals somewhere...

Always felt safer surrounding myself with that physical presence of paper. Although I don't think I ever looked at them!!

21 hours ago, CJJE said:

I've added more info to my reply, so you need to re-read that too.

 

You can format the USB drive in VFAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS, and I just copied the MP4 files from my PC in a folder for each CD/album. They are then displayed with the artist, track name, album name etc (and usefully you can set favourite artists, genres, or albums to quickly select the desired tracks). 

 

I don't know if you need to be set up as a primary user to use a USB drive (I wouldn't have thought so to be honest) but this does need to be resolved. Is there an existing user that needs to be removed first perhaps? I was able to set myself up fairly quickly, but the procedure is quite strict on how you do it. (I did it back in November 2020 so my memory is a bit hazy now.) But I remember I needed to have all the car keys with me, and my phone. If you can download a user manual that should guide you through it, otherwise complain to the dealer who sold you the car. 

 

My car came with a printed manual, but even that referred me to a downloadable manual for details of the Amundsen (but that was when the MIB3 units had just been released). I also hate this "green" idea of not providing written user manuals, but I'm of a generation who received a bookshelf of manuals back in the 1980s when I first installed MS Office onto a PC!

 

Chris

 

 

 

Thanks for your help Chris, I've cracked it!

I was sitting at my desk an hour ago and suddenly realised that in front of me on the desk was a USB socket tester. It has one USB-A plug, two USB-A sockets and two LED numeric displays. Plug in and it lights up the voltage for each socket.

I put the tester into the USB socket of the USB-C interface adapter that I have been using and plugged that into the car. Outcome? The right socket is dead. The left socket works correctly with the USB-C one way round but just causes a flashing blue LED on the end of the tester when plugged in the other way round. I reverted to the correct situation and plugged in my USB flash drive and -BINGO- it was recognised and plays music!

One very happy bunny here. I'm now going to buy one of the memory sticks like you use (Ryman and WHSmith stock them in 32GB) and transfer all my tracks from the existing flash drive and SD card. One more thing for the dealer to investigate!

 

woodentop19 - see info on this post re primary user issues that dogged me for many weeks/months

 

 

On 05/03/2023 at 20:40, Woodentop19 said:

 

Secondly, in what structure is your memory stick formatted - I would guess exFAT for one of that size - and how is your music structured? Is it in directories that reflect album titles or types of music, or is the whole lot just one list? 

 

Woody

 

 

Hi Woody

 

These two previous threads might help you with regard to music files on USB.

 

Music from USB stick -

 

Playlists USB -

 

 

Correction to my earlier post, which was too late at night!

 

The music files on my USB drive are MP3 files, stored in folders and sub-folders as Artist / Album / Track.

 

Chris

You can download the digital version of the manuals, indeed it often refers you to view the digital version, you can download the 'Skoda connect' to a laptop and sign in there, it will link to the cars infotainment system 

https://www.skoda-connect.com/ 

 

https://digital-manual.skoda-auto.com/public/login/en_GB/ 

9 minutes ago, Springer46 said:

You can download the digital version of the manuals, indeed it often refers you to view the digital version, you can download the 'Skoda connect' to a laptop and sign in there, it will link to the cars infotainment system 

https://www.skoda-connect.com/ 

 

https://digital-manual.skoda-auto.com/public/login/en_GB/ 

 

Thanks for that but I have problems that prevents me doing so.

On the first hyperlink above I have to activate Skoda Connect on the Infotainment system which works until I get to the two keyfobs bit where it always fails as a timeout. The car is (hopefully if there is no snow) going to the dealer on Friday for this (and a number of other issues) to be rectified.

On the second hyperlink I am asked to log in - which always fails, so overall I am stumped.

 

Thanks anyway.

 

20 hours ago, CJJE said:

Correction to my earlier post, which was too late at night!

 

The music files on my USB drive are MP3 files, stored in folders and sub-folders as Artist / Album / Track.

 

Chris

 

I got the same flash drive as you (the blue one) and it works, well almost. When I enter My Media I get the list of options - Artists, Albums, etc etc, but I get a 'No files readable' (or something like) if I select anything other than Artists.

I'm rapidly loosing the will to live.......

 

 

My music files have been saved to my PC via iTunes (ripped from CDs). On the PC, the iTunes library shows all the tracks per album, with details of the artist and genre. So when I copy the files to a USB drive all that info goes with them. My Amundsen then lists the music by artist alphabetically, and if I choose one, then displays a list of their albums to choose. I also save chosen artists, and genres as favourites to access them quickly. 

 

Does this help?

 

Chris

 

 

9 minutes ago, CJJE said:

My music files have been saved to my PC via iTunes (ripped from CDs). On the PC, the iTunes library shows all the tracks per album, with details of the artist and genre. So when I copy the files to a USB drive all that info goes with them. My Amundsen then lists the music by artist alphabetically, and if I choose one, then displays a list of their albums to choose. I also save chosen artists, and genres as favourites to access them quickly. 

 

Does this help?

 

Chris

 

 

 

Thanks Chris,

What I don't understand is where the Amundsen is getting the info from. For instance I have organ music played by Ashley Grote at Norwich Cathedral, but no-where in the file does the organist's name appear. The only possibility I can come up with is that Skoda Connect or the Amundsen is interrogating the free music database in the same way that ripping programs do.

 

Anyway it does seem to be working now with the stick in the correct hole and the correct rotation. I do think that the data transfer is rather slow though. When I first try to get music after I have plugged the stick in I get No Readable Files. Leave it a short time and try again and selecting Artist will produce an alphabetic list of artists, but any other still says No Readable etc. Leave it a couple of minutes and everything works - and the quality is superb (should that be with a capital S? 😉 )

 

We were going to take the car to the dealer on Friday (we are in Harrogate, the dealer is 46 miles away in Huddersfield) but the way the weather is looking I guess it might have to be deferred. Still, I will give them more time to get the parts they need - especially the twin USB-C plate!!

 

 

Where did you copy the music file from? If it is also on your PC's hard disk, what does file explorer show when you add the appropriate columns to the screen? I'd assumed it was all just saved as Metadata in the MP3 file? The only thing iTunes adds to the files as far as I can see is the album cover art.

 

Chris

Edited 9 March, 20233 yr by CJJE

1 hour ago, CJJE said:

Where did you copy the music file from? If it is also on your PC's hard disk, what does file explorer show when you add the appropriate columns to the screen? I'd assumed it was all just saved as Metadata in the MP3 file? The only thing iTunes adds to the files as far as I can see is the album cover art.

 

Chris

 

Ah, therein lines an answer. If I open the album and artist columns its does show up the album title and the organist. Now I wonder how come it is that the Amundsen picks that up. Aghh! Metadata strikes again - at least you solved it Chris!

The music is mostly rips of our own CDs using Freemp3 although I have the paid-for version. The thing that puzzled me (but does no longer) is that said info came up even on multi-artist discs or compilations if you like. At least it makes sense now.

 

Many thanks.

 

Woody

Can somebody confirm if Amundsen (Kamiq 2023) can be updated for free using USB-C flash drive and https://updateportal.skoda-auto.com/ without active subscription?

 

I'm trying to make a purchasing decision between Bolero and Amundsen. If Bolero could display Android Auto maps on virtual cockpit, it would be a no-brainer. 

Go dig in Skoda Connect. I think you will find that maps and radio station logo updates are free of charge for 10 years and if they are like the Karoq they are done over air through Skoda Connect.. You <cannot> update them by hand. Having said that they only get updated if you go to an area that has updates pending that have not been applied to your unit.

 

Our last car was a Passat which had the VW Discovery Media Infotainment unit which you could update manually by downloading the file from their web site, writing it onto the old maps SD card and plugging it in. The DM also had a second SD slot for music, a USB-A socket in the armrest also for music, and a CD player with the SD slots inside the glove box. I have to admit I think it was a much better unit than the Amundsen that our Karoq has. For example you could download radio station icons from the VW site or the station web site - they are all a very common file format called png: the latest VW version I had was 2018 and had 739 logos on it. The file for my Karoq (which I cannot manually load) is dated 2020 and has 679 icons! It does not have - for example - an icon for Smooth UK which has been operative since 2010 (or thereabouts) or even for Classic FM which has been on the go since 1992!

If you have an Apple phone of iOS12 or higher, or an Android 11 or higher you can use Android Auto (or the Apple equivalent) and have eight icons from your phone on the Infotainment screen. It does give you one advantage - you can use Google Maps instead of the quirky and idiosyncratic system Skoda use.

 

As for music on a memory stick, you can buy a Verbatim 32GB dual-ended memory stick from Rymans or WHS with USB-C plug on one end and a USB-A plug on the other. Stick the USB-C plug into the socket in the car and, if you are lucky, it will eventually read the stick and display the index*. However it will sort them by Artist no matter where that Artist appears in the music, or by Album, or by Genre etc etc - its really weird. If you use a straight USB-C plug-ended cable you cannot close the cover (formerly the ashtray), but get a 90deg plug-cable from the Skoda Shop and the cover closes - except that Skoda no longer sell the cable version, just a solid stick adapter so you have the same problem. Fortunately you can get such a cable from Amazon and the cover closes.

Our dealer gave me one of these adapter cables - 90deg USB-C plug on one end and USB-A socket on the other. Plug my music memory stick into <that> cable and it appears on the media selection as an extra item. Select it and there is all you music in the order that you wrote it to the stick with the tracks in the correct order as well - and its almost instant.

 

[*Our Karoq was an ex demo. When I tried a memory stick in the sockets the car persistently said it couldn't find any readable files. I have a USB-A test plug unit that shows the incoming voltage and the total outgoing current of the to sockets on it. Using an adapter this showed the right socket was dead whichever way round the plug was inserted (USB-C can be plugged in either way round.) I later found this was intermittent by waggling the inserted plug around. In the left socket the tester also showed the circuit was dead one way round, but plug in the other way round and all was well. After a bit of pushing the dealer fetched the socket board out of another vehicle, removed the faulty one in my car and fitted the new and all was well.]

I don’t want to spend the money to buy online services. I can get the updated map files from my Skoda portal so I should be able to put them onto a USB C stick, plug it in and it should update the system. They also supply radio station logos on the Skoda portal so as both of these are available surely i should be able to update my MY21 car

I used to be able to update my  my20 car but it no longer works. I download the files and expand them onto an SD card but it tells me there is no valid update or similar

For the above two messages, once you get to MY22 with USB-C connectors you cannot update either maps or station logos from a memory stick - it just reports 'No readable files.' You will get the same(ish) effect if you try to play music from a stick until the Amundsen has been active for a while, then when you go into My Media and select Music you will get a list of selections, i.e. Artist, Album, Genre etc of which Album is the best bet. If you select Artist you get the tracks listed alphabetically by artist but in no relationship to tsource.disk.

 

I have however made a discovery which I admit baffles me. If you get a USB-C plug to USB-A socket adapter (short cable, Amazon sell 'em) and plug your USB-A stick into the socket your stick will appear as a separate item after Music, Video, or Podcast on the My Media menu. When you select that you will get all of the albums in the order that you wrote them to the stick, and all the tracks in the original source order. The downside is that because the USB-C sockets are permanently live the Amundsen will not find them if you shut the vehicle down and then start up again later. You have to unplug the cable, start up, and plug it in again - then it finds the contents!

 

If you want a USB-C/USB-A memory stick Rymans and WHS sell the Verbatim variety.

 

D'oh!