Hi - I have issues with the Bolero head unit in my 2009 Octavia Mk II 'Elegance' ...

It's a lovely drive BUT if I try to play audio tracks (MP3 format) from the SD card it takes a year and a day to access the directories I have on there, or to start playing the tracks on the root. Once it starts playing then it's absolutely fine - just as long as you don't try to skip from the root directory (which holds a collection of random 'most played' tracks) to any of the subfolders I've set up, each of which is defined by artist and album, in which case you have to endure a few minutes of silence whilst it does all its thinking and you slowly and painfully navigate through the directory structure.

My understanding is that this is a problem with the unit's firmware, which needs to be updated.

So ... last year I spent some time digging around the internet for answers, but have since forgotten (and lost) all the useful stuff I found. My local dealership has just quoted me the thick-end of £170 just to to identify the current firmware version, and then the same again per hour, or part thereof, to upgrade it. Hmmm ... £340 just for faster tunes? That seems a bit steep, especially when it's my understanding that, for more recent incarnations of the car/head unit, updates are delivered over-air, for free ???

Can anyone shed any light on:

1 - whether my understanding of the issue and its fix is right?

2 - how to find out the version number of the current firmware installation?

3 - what updated firmware version should I be looking for?

4 - how can I get hold of said updated version and install it?

If I need to supply any further details then just let me know!

Thanks in advance!

Stom

Octavia Mk II Elegance - 1.4 TSI DSG (59 plate)

3 hours ago, Stom_65 said:

2 - how to find out the version number of the current firmware installation?

Turn on the radio

Press the large set up button (at the bottom right of the radio)

On the screen select System

Then press and hold the the set up button again.

The radio will now show it is in Radio Service Mode

On the screen, press Version Info

Scroll down to find the FW/SW version. Mine is 20130123A [it was reflashed in 2013 to fix a communications problem].

There is additional info on screen such as the boot loader version

I haven't looked on line but I would not be surprised to find that you can get answers to other points there with videos.

Got as far the Radio Service Mode screen, but no option for 'Version Info' (see attached photo) ...

Any thoughts ... anyone?