NTG4 Comand hangs and reboots following V10 Nav upgrade

[Bobsta]

Hi All,

I have a 2009 W204 (C63) which had 2007 map data. So today I borrowed a set of the latest 2012 V10 DVDs (A204 827 92 59) and upgraded it.

The upgrade went smoothly. It read both discs without erroring or stopping, and at the end stated "Update succesful. System will now restart" (or something to that effect)

After it restarted everything was fine, and is fine... until after the unit's been on for ~25 seconds when it kinda locks up (won't respond to the wheel, etc.) and then ~5 seconds later it spontaneously reboots. You can hear the HD do a fast spin-down and the screen glitches, then it restarts.

It now does this all the time. Whether you choose Radio, Navi, whatever... You've got about 25 secs to work with it and then boom, reset.

I've used the 25 secs to go into settings and reset it. No improvement.
I've also used the 25 secs to go into the engineering menu and reset it. Also no improvement.

I'm wondering whether the system software itself should've been brought up-to-date before I applied the Navi map update.

From the Engineering menu (3.1 Navi core information) I have:
1b Navi Ver. : 01.15.08_ECE
1d SWDL Ver. : 91.15.01

Any pointers, other than taking my out-of-warranty C63 to a main dealer to be fleeced?

Thanks all.

 

[npuk]

Try pulling the fuse for Comand for a hard reset.

 

[Bobsta]

Try pulling the fuse for Comand for a hard reset.

Good suggestion npuk ... but no joy.

I've gone into the Eng menus and checked the various HD partitions aren't out of space, and the self diagnostics say everything's OK. The database is correctly listed as the new version. If I go to "Software Update" it says the current version is 11.15.00.

I don't honestly think it can be a faulty HD as it boots fine, the SatNav maps come up fine and the self diagnostics for the HD all pass.

My (clutching at straws) suspicion is it's something to do with Linguatronic. If I press the speech button shortly after boot-up it says it's still loading the data. When I go into the Linguatronic menu, everything is greyed out. As soon as Linguatronic comes online - and the options aren't greyed out - the interface freezes. Is there any way to disable individual functions like Linguatronic in order to narrow down the cause? Or is it possible to factory-reset the Comand HD or blow a new image onto it via the PCMCIA slot?

Here's a quick video of it in action... https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3og8ja5gpfd2m7/2012-06-09%2014.15.53.mp4

Any further suggestions? I'm not too far from Comand Online / Comand Europe - do they provide diagnostic / break-fix services? Is it worth popping the car in one day this week?

Thanks.

 

[npuk]

Alfie / Richard from Comand.co.uk do provide diagnostics. It would be worth popping down. They have a genuine MB STAR system with all the latest updates so can also check if a Comand unit firmware upgrade solves the issue. You cant really do much yourself, like disable Linguatronic or do a reset to copy map data back onto the harddrive again without STAR.

 

[richard]

Alfie / Richard from Comand.co.uk do provide diagnostics. It would be worth popping down. They have a genuine MB STAR system with all the latest updates so can also check if a Comand unit firmware upgrade solves the issue. You cant really do much yourself, like disable Linguatronic or do a reset to copy map data back onto the harddrive again without STAR.

Does look like a software error, with something hanging up and causing the watchdog to reset the COMAND.

A firmware update may fix it - but it may not be possible to get it started in the time needed before it resets ...

Richard

 

[richard]

ps, do you have an old version of the maps you can load ?

R

 

[Bobsta]

ps, do you have an old version of the maps you can load ?

If I put the current (v10) maps DVD in it, it says there's nothing to update as the versions are the same. I haven't tried putting an older disc in to downgrade it but will give it a shot tonight... will it let you do that?

 

[Bobsta]

I put v9 DVD1 in it and it offered to "upgrade" (despite it being a downgrade). I selected Yes and it's spent the last 20mins+ going through the motions.

So... kinda interesting (and a positive sign?!) that it doesn't crash/reboot during the upgrade process.

We'll have to see whether it's happy on the v9 maps when it finishes in about 2hrs. All fingers and toes currently crossed.

Thanks for the suggestion Richard.

 

[Bobsta]

Sorted!

Well... I'm happy to report it took the V9 update - and <touch wood> it seems to have cured the reboot issue!

Thanks again for the suggestion Richard.

At the back of my mind I wonder whether if I applied V10 again it might take it.... but I have no intention of finding out(!) If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'll be sticking with V9.

 

[npuk]

Think it would be best to get the latest firmware applied to the Comand unit before updating to V10.

 

[richard]

Think it would be best to get the latest firmware applied to the Comand unit before updating to V10.[/QUOTE

I agree with this. Get the firmware upto date, then try V10 again. At least you know there is a way back.

I was going to ask if you always had the phone with you when the reboot happened - at about that time the BT phone connection would have just been established and address book download started, and the new phones send all sorts of complex characters ..

Richard

 

[Bobsta]

Think it would be best to get the latest firmware applied to the Comand unit before updating to V10.

That's an interesting idea. Part of me is happy to leave a working system working... But what's the process (and cost) of having the FW updated? And what would it buy me? (not 7-digit postcodes, I know that much!)

(and no, it wasn't a Bluetooth/phone issue. I thought of that and turned BT off on my phone. Bizarrely it seemed to last longer when listening to AM radio stations than FM)

 

[Tebs]

That's an interesting idea. Part of me is happy to leave a working system working... But what's the process (and cost) of having the FW updated? And what would it buy me? (not 7-digit postcodes, I know that much!)

It should be free for cars less than four years old.

I agree with what you say about leaving the system as is because when mine went in for updating soon after I bought my car the whole system crashed. Had to wait two weeks for a resolution which was a special fw version from the factory. At one point it looked like they were gonna wash their hands of the whole thing and leave me with a dead comand system.

 

[richard]

See if you can get the dealer to do the firmware update for free - that means if they break it its their issue !! Firmware updates *occasionally* go wrong ...

If car is under 3 years (being 2009) get along there before it is 3 years !!

Linguatronic is software in the head unit, as the buttons become not greyed out, it suggests that has started. Does the car have DAB ? On my car, DAB finishes initialising about the same time as Linguatronic (but I have NTG2.5)

But, certainly, the next thing to do would be firmware, then try the maps again

Richard

 

[Tebs]

See if you can get the dealer to do the firmware update for free - that means if they break it its their issue !! Firmware updates *occasionally* go wrong ...

I agree but in my case it was just over four years old and it was working perfectly before it went and the update failed. They then tried to take the line that there was possibly a problem with my system and that was why the update failed. With it being out of warranty they said if they couldnt resolve it, it would mean having to pay for a comand replacement. Luckily they fixed it after waiting two weeks. If your cars are less than 3 years old get them done. If its between 3 and 4 years old the upgrades should still be free but then youre in a grey area if the update fails.

 

[Bobsta]

Thanks guys. My car was first reg'd in March 09 so is now out of warranty. It's due a service in about 80 days so will get them to do the FW upgrade then if I don't get it done before.

Strangely with the old maps it found my office address fine. With the new maps it tries to direct me 300 yds further down the road to completely the wrong turning. That's progress for you. :-/

 

[ljutko]

I have same problem and now i downgrade ( at the moment 27%)

Should i try upgrade once more?

 

[marius_nij]

I have same problem and now i downgrade ( at the moment 27%)

Should i try upgrade once more?

Hello!
Did you tryed the update once more? Succesfully?

 

[terryf]

I have same problem with 2011 s550 ntg3.5 hang and reboots every 30 seconds. I tried putting the map disc in to see if the fix works, but it says loading and then hangs and reboots before going any further.

If I remove the Hard Drive, then the rest of comand works fine, no navigation etc, I would welcome any suggestions. Star tells me hard drive is faulty. I put a new hard drive in but its not partitioned, do I just need to set this up with the telematics dvd online with star before loading maps?

thanks in advance

 

[Bobsta]

I’m having an episode of deja vu right now.

I bought a set of the latest (V16) maps over Christmas and applied them today.
After the unit rebooted, it… rebooted again… and I suddenly thought “shit, not that again!” - I’d completely forgotten about this issue I had 10 bloody years ago!

And then I googled the issue - and this post is the no.1 result.

No, I never did get round to upgrading the firmware and now I’m going to somehow have to find some v9 maps to downgrade to if I ever want to use my system again.