Comand Questions

[SLK350]

Hi,
As a newbie with only 4.5 driving hours under my belt (of my SLK350) I would like a little help with the following questions.

Firstly, as I understand it (from reading some of the threads on this forum), an MP3 DVD could hold up to 255 folders each containing up to 255 tracks (giving 65025 tracks in total) and you could have six such DVD's (giving an amazing total of 390150 tracks) am I right in thinking this is correct?

Secondly, where is the navigation DVD as there are no CD/DVD currently in my Comand APS, I am currently assuming it is stored on the HDD. The second part to this question is, should I have been given the disc on taking ownership of the vehicle (I am now it's second owner).

Thirdly, how do I find out what version of software the Comand APS is running and which version of navigation software is running ?

Lastly, is it possible to enter the engineer mode using key strokes alone or do you need some technical wizardry which is only in the possession of Mercedes-Benz ?

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

 

[verytalldave]

Welcome................

This may answer one of your questions...........

Mercedes Comand Aps Unlock Classe e - Slk - Sl - S- Cls - Ml

Second. Your cars COMAND should have been supplied with a navigation disk. It should eject when you press the button.
Sounds like it has been removed before you took delivery of the car. I would contact the seller and ask for it.
Even if its an early version, its better than nothing.
The version of the navigation software is whatever the previous owner was running and you cant find that out without the disk.
If the previous owner wont give you the disk - or hasnt got the disk - then you will have to buy it.
Either from a Mercedes garage at full MB price - or here at a substantial discount -
Comand (Europe) Ltd - Great Deals on Mercedes Comand & Retrofitting Installations
or of course there is always fleabay if you know EXACTLY what disk your comand unit takes.
What year is your car BTW?
I will leave the MP3 questions for others to answer as I am not sure.

 

[corned]

We need to know a little more on that model year, etc etc before comment.

If it's a HDD COMAND then it's pretty recent.

However, I don't think the 6 x MP3 disc is correct. Are you referring to the 6-disc CD changer? If so, they don't read MP3. Only the DVD drive does, if I remember correctly.

If it is a HDD COMAND, I believe you can upload directly onto the HDD, thus dispensing with CD/DVD discs altogether...

Oh - and welcome to the forum!!

 

[verytalldave]

I was reliably informed that some of the 6 disc changers that sit in the glovebox DO read MP3 music files.
These people stock them.....look at their online shop........
http://www.navisworld-shop.com/

 

[SLK350]

Thanks for the welcome.

My SLK is due to be one year old on Thursday (so its a 2008 /58 model).

verytalldave: The comand aps unlock is for an older model (I believe) as I dont have a SERV button. I will contact the dealer for the disc. Also the CD changer is not in the glove box.

corned: I hope the year info above helps. Are you saying there is only one slot that will play DVD's, either MP3 or video? I have already put 1Gb of data on to the HDD but was asking in case I managed to fill the 4Gb on the HDD and the 2Gb in the SD slot (which I will).

Thanks for the help so far guys.

 

[chitaxmoto]

your map should be on the sd card, as for dvd changer provided the option was chosen it will swallow them on the comand slot, put audio cd go to audio menu see if has blank spaces to take more cds. hope that helps

 

[corned]

I have to confess that I get confused with all the disparate variants of what is named the same thing. "COMAND-APS" is a generic name for very different systems! My info may not be accurate.

You clearly have the HDD system. Which is good. Does it have a large CD/DVD slot under the small SD slot? If so then this should play DVDs and/or MP3s.

Is your CDC in the boot? Or does the HDD head unit have a multi-feed disc slot?

 

[SLK350]

chitaxmoto: The map is stored on a harddisk which is housed in the head unit. Thanks for your input.
corned: I have noticed there are many variants of what is essientially the same thing. I think mine is a NTG 2.5 (what ever that means). It does have a DVD/CD slot which can hold up to 6 discs, so it is a multi-feed disc slot. There is nothing in the boot that I can find.

 

[SLK350]

I have spoken to the dealer who says the navigation software is held on the HDD (as expected). I asked what if the HDD dies or the Comand APS unit is nicked and he said that Mercedes-Benz would reinstall the software. I have to say in my experience of garages (never used Mercedes-Benz before) this sounds a little unlikely, normally any reason to charge a punter is not ignored. Can anyone pass comment on whether this is likely to happen.

 

[pos.k]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Is yours a 2009 facelift model - would probably have been available late 08. - OK just seen your signature pic - so yes - 2009 model

Is so, and you have the new HDD COMAND unit which is the same as in my partners SLK then the maps are indeed stored on the hard drive. The changer slots are accessed by pressing the eject button and then choosing which disc you are working with - in or out. The media option on the screen selects the active disc - although you can press the disc button to the left of the screen, and then select the disc number. The changer will take dvd's loaded with mp3's or video (have not tried video in it) so 6 dvd worth, plus the hard drive plus the SD card slot should get you to work and back (if you work on the moon)

mind you there is also the radio

Updates for the maps are available, but not sure what arrangements the dealers will make for these - there are some threads here about it, but it is unclear on cost / availability. The key here is that you do not need to keep the disc as in earlier versions that need it to navigate - you only need the use of a disc.

Good luck and enjoy your car!

 

[pos.k]

Hi,
As a newbie with only 4.5 driving hours under my belt (of my SLK350) I would like a little help with the following questions.

Firstly, as I understand it (from reading some of the threads on this forum), an MP3 DVD could hold up to 255 folders each containing up to 255 tracks (giving 65025 tracks in total) and you could have six such DVD's (giving an amazing total of 390150 tracks) am I right in thinking this is correct?

Correct, although I just made the album / artist folders and other tracks in the root

Secondly, where is the navigation DVD as there are no CD/DVD currently in my Comand APS, I am currently assuming it is stored on the HDD. The second part to this question is, should I have been given the disc on taking ownership of the vehicle (I am now it's second owner).

We didn't get a disc when car was bought new!

Thirdly, how do I find out what version of software the Comand APS is running and which version of navigation software is running ?

Lastly, is it possible to enter the engineer mode using key strokes alone or do you need some technical wizardry which is only in the possession of Mercedes-Benz ?

Don't know the last 2, but someone here surely will.

 

[Alfie]

There is an engineering mode on these units but you cant change much on it to be honest.

Your mapping data will almost certainly be the June 2008 version. A new version is due very soon

 

[SLK350]

pos.k: Thanks for your input, always useful when someone has the same kit and already knows the answers.

alfie: Thanks for the info on the map and the up and coming release. As for the engineer mode, don't suppose you want to spill the beans on how.
It is more inquisitiveness/being nosey rather than the need to change anything. Thanks anyway for the info.

 

[SLK350]

OK now I am confused. I have just created a DVD with 975 tracks all in the root directory and they all play, but most amazing is that they are all *.m4a files i.e. the type iTunes produces. I did not have to convert them to *.mp3 files.

But todays best discovery is that I bought a MI CABLE KIT (A 001 827 65 04) to attach my iPod 5G Classic 60Gb to the port in the glovebox. I sat back expecting to see the iPod info displayed only on the dash display, but to my amazement and great joy it is also displayed in the Comand APS screen and you can select playlist's, tracks by artist or album, in fact anything you could do with an iPod.

Well worth the £47.00 including V.A.T. it cost from my local dealer.

pos.k: This might be of interest to you if you have an iPod kicking around somewhere.

 

[et0609]

A quick search on google will tell you how to go into the engineering mode, but you have to be very careful when looking through it, changing something that shouldnt be changed could seriously mess things up.

 

[SLK350]

Thanks et0609, you were right a few minutes trawling the net turned up the right info for my Comand NTG2.5
There some interresting stuff in there, needless to say it was look and don't touch.

 

[pos.k]

OK now I am confused. I have just created a DVD with 975 tracks all in the root directory and they all play, but most amazing is that they are all *.m4a files i.e. the type iTunes produces. I did not have to convert them to *.mp3 files.

But todays best discovery is that I bought a MI CABLE KIT (A 001 827 65 04) to attach my iPod 5G Classic 60Gb to the port in the glovebox. I sat back expecting to see the iPod info displayed only on the dash display, but to my amazement and great joy it is also displayed in the Comand APS screen and you can select playlist's, tracks by artist or album, in fact anything you could do with an iPod.

Well worth the £47.00 including V.A.T. it cost from my local dealer.

pos.k: This might be of interest to you if you have an iPod kicking around somewhere.

Thanks thats great, but the story with our current SLK is a long dreary tale of retrofit woe (by the dealer) so we don't have either the voice control or the interface ports, or decent parktronic etc. They have offered to exchange the car rather than mess with it further, so we are waiting to collect our new one from Bremen in October :bannana:

After that will definitely get the leads