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Retrofit SatNav Antenna (& SD card query) Recommendations

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
In its current state, it's too unpredictable. Best to just wait and see what happens then go from there rather than potentially going down a rabbit hole unnecessarily!
Reading the documentation, apparently there are known issues with doing it from MacOS vs Windows (hidden files problem that causes grief when transferring music to SD for playback in the car) BUT, I didn't do it manually - I used VW's own software to do it, so if that fucks it up, well... 🤣 (Stick to what you know, lads)
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
So, we've done it - Simaservis was in the car this evening, removed my CP and enabled all the bells and whistles on my new MIB2 unit for me. Delighted, to say the least - particularly considering I get Dolby Atmos in the car now and coupled with the Dynaudio speakers, it actually sounds alright in there - for a car sound system.

However, SatNav updates for it continue to elude me. With the database which was on the card when I got it (which I thankfully took a back-up of) I am able to use the built-in nav with the car:

tempImagetn7aaf.jpg


(From before the CP was removed from the unit.)

The card came with 1310 ECE1 2020 maps on it, so they're not a million miles out of date...but still, this shouldn't be this difficult.

If I update them to what Discover Care suggests for me, it buggers the card. If I manually update the contents of the card (using VW's instructions) it buggers the card, and Discover Care doesn't even recognise if if I try to restore to it!

If I download the full European bundle maps for it, my laptop can't decompress the 7-Zip file, which suggests to me that VW have put a corrupt file on their website. If I download bundle 2, it does - I tried to copy that to the card this evening as a final attempt but, no cigar...

Simaservis mentioned something about a license - I thought the MIBs got lifetime updates for their nav system? That's what VW say on their website anyway.

Am I falling foul of bad files and poorly written software here, or is there another unknown retrofit issue causing me grief here? For the most part, I probably will use CarPlay but I'd like to have the option of using it built-in, so I can make use of the MFD - for example, when there are folk in the car etc.

Update: Having followed VW's instructions (here) and attempted to manually populate the maps onto the card, it appears to have knackered it.
 
Last edited:

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
So, we've done it - Simaservis was in the car this evening, removed my CP and enabled all the bells and whistles on my new MIB2 unit for me. Delighted, to say the least - particularly considering I get Dolby Atmos in the car now and coupled with the Dynaudio speakers, it actually sounds alright in there - for a car sound system.

However, SatNav updates for it continue to elude me. With the database which was on the card when I got it (which I thankfully took a back-up of) I am able to use the built-in nav with the car:

View attachment 216252

(From before the CP was removed from the unit.)

The card came with 1310 ECE1 2020 maps on it, so they're not a million miles out of date...but still, this shouldn't be this difficult.

If I update them to what Discover Care suggests for me, it buggers the card. If I manually update the contents of the card (using VW's instructions) it buggers the card, and Discover Care doesn't even recognise if if I try to restore to it!

If I download the full European bundle maps for it, my laptop can't decompress the 7-Zip file, which suggests to me that VW have put a corrupt file on their website. If I download bundle 2, it does - I tried to copy that to the card this evening as a final attempt but, no cigar...

Simaservis mentioned something about a license - I thought the MIBs got lifetime updates for their nav system? That's what VW say on their website anyway.

Am I falling foul of bad files and poorly written software here, or is there another unknown retrofit issue causing me grief here? For the most part, I probably will use CarPlay but I'd like to have the option of using it built-in, so I can make use of the MFD - for example, when there are folk in the car etc.

Update: Having followed VW's instructions (here) and attempted to manually populate the maps onto the card, it appears to have knackered it.
I've seen some retrofitters talk about activating updates to 2099. That's all I know.
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
I've seen some retrofitters talk about activating updates to 2099. That's all I know.
I think that's what happens if you buy a hacked unit. Mine isn't, it's been activated against my VIN and the FeC's applied to it for all the functions, so it should behave as if it's always been there.

Is this worth a call to VW to ask them, or will they fob me off (as they did with my trim enquiry) by telling me it's an "unathourised retrofit" and therefor not supported?
 

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
I think that's what happens if you buy a hacked unit. Mine isn't, it's been activated against my VIN and the FeC's applied to it for all the functions, so it should behave as if it's always been there.

Is this worth a call to VW to ask them, or will they fob me off (as they did with my trim enquiry) by telling me it's an "unathourised retrofit" and therefor not supported?
Your local dealer won't and can't help you. VWUK won't be able to help either.

Remember, this unit hasn't been legitimately activated (it's not possible to do so as we've discussed before). You'll need to ask your hacker to help as they're the only ones who know how this particular unit was manipulated.
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
Your local dealer won't and can't help you. VWUK won't be able to help either.

Remember, this unit hasn't been legitimately activated (it's not possible to do so as we've discussed before). You'll need to ask your hacker to help as they're the only ones who know how this particular unit was manipulated.
I discussed it with Simaservis last night, he doesn't know why it doesn't work. He hasn't hacked the unit at all, it's been connected to ODIS so at least, as far as that system is concerned (obv the build record will say something different) the unit is "supposed" to be there.

I do seem to be having some kind of problem with the card in general now though, twice I've tried to restore the back-up to it and it's come up with an error at the end. So I've no idea WTF is going on with it.
 

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
I discussed it with Simaservis last night, he doesn't know why it doesn't work. He hasn't hacked the unit at all, it's been connected to ODIS so at least, as far as that system is concerned (obv the build record will say something different) the unit is "supposed" to be there.

I do seem to be having some kind of problem with the card in general now though, twice I've tried to restore the back-up to it and it's come up with an error at the end. So I've no idea WTF is going on with it.
Yes and no. Hackers like them manipulate ODIS with MITM attacks. Just because ODIS was involved doesn't make it legitimate or correct. The proper procedure doesn't exist because it's impossible - only these dodgy workarounds. If a dealer was to attempt to run SVM it would fail. Ultimately, we don't know how that affects the map licencing.

One thing you could try is to obtain a card with the latest maps and see whether that works in your system?
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
Yes and no. Hackers like them manipulate ODIS with MITM attacks. Just because ODIS was involved doesn't make it legitimate or correct. The proper procedure doesn't exist because it's impossible - only these dodgy workarounds. If a dealer was to attempt to run SVM it would fail. Ultimately, we don't know how that affects the map licencing.

One thing you could try is to obtain a card with the latest maps and see whether that works in your system?
It's worth giving it a try, for sure. I'm pissed off their software seems to have knackered the one I've got here, I'm wondering if they can do something with it to repair it - re-flash it or something. I don't know...
 

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
It's worth giving it a try, for sure. I'm pissed off their software seems to have knackered the one I've got here, I'm wondering if they can do something with it to repair it - re-flash it or something. I don't know...
There's nothing special about the SD card other than the CID btw. You can format it and try from scratch?
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
There's nothing special about the SD card other than the CID btw. You can format it and try from scratch?
That's what I've done to it, even sat and figured out how to do it and configure the right FAT32 cluster size from Terminal on my MacBook in order to fully comply with them! 🤣🤣🤣

The CID being the hidden partition on the SD card that identifies it for the unit, yeah?
 

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
That's what I've done to it, even sat and figured out how to do it and configure the right FAT32 cluster size from Terminal on my MacBook in order to fully comply with them! 🤣🤣🤣

The CID being the hidden partition on the SD card that identifies it for the unit, yeah?
Got a Windows machine to try and use?

The CID is on a block not usually exposed.
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
Got a Windows machine to try and use?

The CID is on a block not usually exposed.
I have, yeah - I still have the Bootcamp partition on my Mac for Simaservis to get to the car.

Are there some commands I can run against the SD Card to expose the block and confirm it's still there? I've got another older back-up I'm trying to restore to it at the moment to see if it works.
 

IWMTom

Autocross Newbie
I have, yeah - I still have the Bootcamp partition on my Mac for Simaservis to get to the car.

Are there some commands I can run against the SD Card to expose the block and confirm it's still there? I've got another older back-up I'm trying to restore to it at the moment to see if it works.
It's not usually read and exposed by consumer readers... but it shouldn't ever get changed; it's in read only space.

Try on a Windows machine. Fresh format and new files.
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
It's not usually read and exposed by consumer readers... but it shouldn't ever get changed; it's in read only space.

Try on a Windows machine. Fresh format and new files.
OK. I'll give this a whirl. I've got the map data downloading again ATM, also (manually) copying an older back-up (From the day before) of the card, when it was working, as I noticed there's a difference in file size between the one that failed overnight and this one.

I'll get the card working again at least and then shift it to the Windows partition on my Mac and try it from there. Honestly, I see no reason why this shouldn't work! 😅
 

Lth0ms0n

Go Kart Newbie
Location
United Kingdom
Car(s)
2013 Golf GTD
Fixed it!!

D127C256-5DDD-4C09-93C5-67C69B4AC8EB.jpeg


After:

5872760D-2949-4FD4-A136-7D49444EAD86.jpeg


That’s the full European bundle for it, the 15GB download (or however big it is). Don’t know what I did tbh, still used my Mac but formatted it using an old Windows machine, lying around.

Just need to figure out the coding/adaptations for getting the nav details onto the MFD and I think that’s all of it! (Oh, and my Dynaudio settings but Simaservis is on that.)
 
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