DNS series head unit (new generation dual core RNS-510 alternative)

[moda]

Hey guys,

After some correspondence with Sandy on Thursday he got back to me with an update for the firmware and also a can module upgrade. I've been running it since Friday and can confirm that silent boot is working properly and I haven't had a single flat battery or needed to double start the car since. I'm still going to give it a week to be sure the problem is completely fixed but I'm pretty optimistic so far.

Finally I'm also able to set the time too!!! There is an option to set it to sync with GPS as well!!!

Links are below for the new firmware. Remember it is YOUR responsibility to ensure you are flashing the correct MCU depending on which unit you have. Not mine. If you are unsure, ask rather than bricking your unit!

Firmware: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...A_20150326.zip

This contains the MCU for the newer 'A' type units.

DO NOT FLASH as is if you have an old 'Non-A' unit – you must replace the A9_mcu_iap.hs file with this MCU file:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...AN%EF%BC%89.7z

You can then begin the flash. Remember, copy the UPD file to a blank SD first, then the rest of the files. Start with the MCU (turn on the unit and after it boots, insert the firmware SD into the GPS slot and a dialog box will pop up asking you to update MCU). Once done and the unit turns off, turn it on again and it will perform the rest of the flash. When the MPU update is finished you can turn off the unit and take the card out.



After this, delete all the files on your firmware SD (or use another one if you have a spare) and put this file on it:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/96960779/VW_V02_32.ihs


This is the CAN-Bus update. The process is identical to MCU (insert SD card after the unit boots). Once that’s finished your unit will be completely up to date.

Here's mine after the update ('Non-A' Type):

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16152[/ATTACH]

Remember to confirm which MCU you need before doing this or you will brick your unit. Again if unsure post a pic of your system info page here and someone will be able to help you.



I am actuall really impressed with the service I received from him the other day. I emailed him Thursday morning, and by that evening he had contacted AS and sent me an update that has fixed the problems I was having. Can't ask for much better than that!

Cheers for the upload mate.

Might want to hold off on updating though, appears to have bricked my unit, which is awesome :\

My unit is Non A, New CANBUS, as we all know. Was business as usual, dumped the UPD file first, then the other files, then the non-A MCU file. Started the car, inserted card, flashed the MCU, said it finished and rebooted, but just went to a black screen. Restarted the car, it made a bit of a noise, and now it's stuck on the dreaded white/gray screen of death.

Dunno what's going on, it should be fine? I triple checked to make sure I had the right MCU and I did, but yea. Hrm!

[Goobz]

Sorry to hear mate. Mine went flawlessly. It was actually the smoothest flash I've done. Lol.

Hopefully you can get it up and running again soon.

[moda]

Sorry to hear mate. Mine went flawlessly. It was actually the smoothest flash I've done. Lol.

Hopefully you can get it up and running again soon.

Yea I dunno what happened, i've done it a million times before. Any chance you still have the files on the card you flashed, can you post a screenshot to check I had the right files? I'm stumped.

[Goobz]

I don't have them here with me but it was just all the main firmware files with the alternate MCU. Then the CAN after that on another card. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe Sandy can shed some light?

Did you flash the MCU first?

[moda]

I don't have them here with me but it was just all the main firmware files with the alternate MCU. Then the CAN after that on another card. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe Sandy can shed some light?

Did you flash the MCU first?

Yep. Copied UPD -> All other files -> Alternative MCU. Started car, flashed MCU, completed and rebooted to blackscreen. Now gray screen of death.

How bizarre :|

From the sounds of it, someone was able to unbrick their unit by swapping a chip, so if we can't recover it via software, hopefully we can still save the unit. So annoying though.

[dame2010]

Cheers for the upload mate.

Might want to hold off on updating though, appears to have bricked my unit, which is awesome :\

My unit is Non A, New CANBUS, as we all know. Was business as usual, dumped the UPD file first, then the other files, then the non-A MCU file. Started the car, inserted card, flashed the MCU, said it finished and rebooted, but just went to a black screen. Restarted the car, it made a bit of a noise, and now it's stuck on the dreaded white/gray screen of death.

Dunno what's going on, it should be fine? I triple checked to make sure I had the right MCU and I did, but yea. Hrm!

So is it safe to flash on new DNS series?

[Goobz]

Its up to you. It worked perfectly for me but moda had issues. We both have older units though. Maybe someone else has tried that can chime in?

[Hotbmwm3]

What a disaster. Will be interesting to see how long and how much it takes to get back working again.

It might be easier just to buy a new unit for $290 than pay the international freight both ways to China.

[moda]

What a disaster. Will be interesting to see how long and how much it takes to get back working again.

It might be easier just to buy a new unit for $290 than pay the international freight both ways to China.

Unfortunate yes, disaster, eh. The good thing about these units is that audio sources have already showed their happy to send component chips etc to fix issues.

Credit to Sandy, got onto him last night, he reckons it might have been a bad BSP flash, and we'll work with audiosources to get it fixed. The BSP chip is an 8pin socketed chip, afaik, and the MCU is a soldered microcontroller, which can be replaced as well (with the right gear). Sending back to China is a last resort.

Just goes to show that firmware flashing is no joke. Am I annoyed? Hell yea. Am I going to scream bloody murder? Meh. **** happens. I've bricked and recovered many a phone or iPod heh.

[Scratchedeos]

I purchased a genuine Apple adaptor - they are expensive - but they do work. The hole I drilled in the "ash tray" was for the small end of the cable and with a black cable coming out of it it is hardly noticeable.
The MirrorLink is now all sorted - I didn't realise it used Airplay to make it work. It works very well and Sandy sorted me out.

[Omerta11]

I purchased a genuine Apple adaptor - they are expensive - but they do work. The hole I drilled in the "ash tray" was for the small end of the cable and with a black cable coming out of it it is hardly noticeable.
The MirrorLink is now all sorted - I didn't realise it used Airplay to make it work. It works very well and Sandy sorted me out.

I was hoping to avoid the inflated prices that Apple insists on charging for their products, but it looks like I'll just grab a genuine adapter and be done with it.

Like yourself, I didn't know that MirrorLink used AirPlay - thanks for the heads-up!

Moda - good luck recovering your unit. Definitely an inconvenience. I've got a newer unit, but based on what you're dealing with I'm a bit reluctant to flash mine now. I'm away for work at the moment, so I've got some time to think about it. Having said all that, I'll probably give in to temptation and do it when get back in a few days. If I do it I'll let you all know how it goes.

[asa572]

I like how Sandy drops in and doesn't say anything or answer anyone questions.
It's a group buy he arranged on here and doesn't say a thing in this thread anymore.
Pretty poor form.
I got my replacement unit after giving him a $200 "security" payment but I didn't send the old unit back incase the "new" unit bricks itself
and I am left without a unit for my car. Right or wrong, that's what I chose to do.
IMO everyone should have received new ones to stop the confusion with updates.
Imagine buying a unit from a named brand manufacturer and them giving you the option of soldering in a new chip to fix it's problem.
I doubt it would ever happen.

[Hotbmwm3]

I like how Sandy drops in and doesn't say anything or answer anyone questions.
It's a group buy he arranged on here and doesn't say a thing in this thread anymore.
Pretty poor form.
I got my replacement unit after giving him a $200 "security" payment but I didn't send the old unit back incase the "new" unit bricks itself
and I am left without a unit for my car. Right or wrong, that's what I chose to do.
IMO everyone should have received new ones to stop the confusion with updates.
Imagine buying a unit from a named brand manufacturer and them giving you the option of soldering in a new chip to fix it's problem.
I doubt it would ever happen.

I think it's just us ASA that aren't happy with the silence, everyone else just seems to accept it

It's amazing how people will put up with faulty hardware instead of asking for a replacement unit that works

[moda]

So is it safe to flash on new DNS series?

Its up to you. It worked perfectly for me but moda had issues. We both have older units though. Maybe someone else has tried that can chime in?

Pretty much this. It's up to you. I've confirmed that I used the exact same files that Goobz did, our units are the same, so something funky must have happened during the flash, maybe I was too quick to try and reboot it, IDK.

You should be fine to flash MPU, which is the OS, all units are compatible. Just have to quadruple make sure that you have the right files for the unit, and that you start with a freshly formatted card, and ONLY put the files you need on the card.

Up to you, though.

I purchased a genuine Apple adaptor - they are expensive - but they do work. The hole I drilled in the "ash tray" was for the small end of the cable and with a black cable coming out of it it is hardly noticeable.
The MirrorLink is now all sorted - I didn't realise it used Airplay to make it work. It works very well and Sandy sorted me out.

For what it's worth, I have just pulled the 30 pin up through the glovebox, and have it coming out of the glovebox, behind the gear knob and up to the center AC vent on the drivers side vent where I have a Kenu airframe, using the apple 30pin to lighting cable adapter. It's not the cleanest install, there are probably way better places to pull the 30 pin up, but eh, it was easy. I should probably come up behind where the accessories area behind the gearstick, probably the cleanest place to do it.

Also, everyone that I have ever heard of having issues with the lightning adapters has been using a third party one.Just get the authentic one from apple. Yes they are more expensive, but I have been using them for years with no issues at all.

I was hoping to avoid the inflated prices that Apple insists on charging for their products, but it looks like I'll just grab a genuine adapter and be done with it.

Like yourself, I didn't know that MirrorLink used AirPlay - thanks for the heads-up!

Moda - good luck recovering your unit. Definitely an inconvenience. I've got a newer unit, but based on what you're dealing with I'm a bit reluctant to flash mine now. I'm away for work at the moment, so I've got some time to think about it. Having said all that, I'll probably give in to temptation and do it when get back in a few days. If I do it I'll let you all know how it goes.

Cheers mate, hopefully will be able to get it fixed!

I like how Sandy drops in and doesn't say anything or answer anyone questions.
It's a group buy he arranged on here and doesn't say a thing in this thread anymore.
Pretty poor form.
I got my replacement unit after giving him a $200 "security" payment but I didn't send the old unit back incase the "new" unit bricks itself
and I am left without a unit for my car. Right or wrong, that's what I chose to do.
IMO everyone should have received new ones to stop the confusion with updates.
Imagine buying a unit from a named brand manufacturer and them giving you the option of soldering in a new chip to fix it's problem.
I doubt it would ever happen.

To be fair, he's not active on the forums as much these days, but is still attentive on his emails. Eh. I really should have pushed for a full replacement unit back in the day to the 'A' one, but oh wells. Hopefully it won't come to doing a full replacement, hopefully we can come up with an elegant solution, otherwise i'll be trying to a replacement anyways. I have put a lot of time over the last year or two replying in this forum and trying to help people with the DNS haha, earnt time, ya know

[asa572]

To be fair, he's not active on the forums as much these days, but is still attentive on his emails. Eh. I really should have pushed for a full replacement unit back in the day to the 'A' one, but oh wells. Hopefully it won't come to doing a full replacement, hopefully we can come up with an elegant solution, otherwise i'll be trying to a replacement anyways. I have put a lot of time over the last year or two replying in this forum and trying to help people with the DNS haha, earnt time, ya know

I was starting to think you were Sandy, Moda.
I appreciate everything you have done to help everyone out, including myself.