PhilGood

If you want to follow the offical update, you can go to Pioneer site and find the downloads. However, if you want to update files out of the Pioneer support, you need a bit of "hacking". I'm using F500 and the process is very similar. If order to update program files (such as maps, custom skin and navigation program) outside the offical support, you need to boot the unit into WinCE mode. This can be done through "Test Mode". Search this site for "Test Mode" and you can find the instructions and files. Once in WinCE mode, you can then update map files individually by copy/replace through th

The yellow line is not needed. I'd it installed for 2 years and no issue at all.

Please check this thread (near the bottom of the page): http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/34136-installing-the-f500bt-in-a-2007-honda-accord-ex-sedan/

If the cradle is connected, F500BT will switch to "sleep" mode when the main power is disconnected. Without the yellow wire connected, the unit will still wake up instantaneously. F500BT use very little power during sleep mode, I'd left the unit in sleep for more than 3 weeks and it still woke up instantaneously with no reboot. Please note that the yellow wire is for "North America" only! A bad battery may cause reboot everytime which you may need to watch for.

The yellow cable is used to maintain power for MSN traffic update. If you don't use this feature, it's no need to wire the yellow cable.

Try add the following line in the SYS.TXT in the iGo folder. You can then move all the contents to the storage card. [folders] content="\Storage Card\iGo\Content\"

My F500BT has the same issue, however, I found that the skipping only occurs on MP3 files with lower bit rate (below 192 kbit/s).

If you go into testmode and check the property of the EZRIDER.EXE file, you find the version number under "Product Version". The map files are installed in "\My Flash Disk\APL2\iGo\CONTENT\MAP", you can simply download the new maps and transfer them over under testmode, reboot the system and see if it pick the new maps. Of course, don't forget to backup your old maps.

If you're running iGO 8.3.2, you don't need the maps and PIO from official pioneer update disks. I use the maps from Here and also found some latest PIOs for iGo 8.3.2 from other websites. Some of the custom mod for other F series units also work on F500 but the learning curve is steep...

The LED are hard wired, I guess you can unsolder it and swap a green LED in but that's tons of work and risk...

Congratulation

Windows CE called it "My Device" instead of "My Computer", if you don't see the desktop icon, you can go into "Start" menu and run "Explorer". A Stylus will definitely help here

Try the testmode file I mentioned in the link, version 2.3 work find on mine with no green box.

You can get 2.3 from this thread.

After boot into "Test Mode", you should see the normal Windows desktop... Which version of "Test Mode" file did you got? You should get the 2.3 version.

A stylus would help. Is it your camera that I can't see any error message, just a green box? Getting into "Test Mode" is the the first big step

BTW, Jason updated the Wiki and it's very useful. I dug up some of my old reading and come across a Russian mod that have iGo Primo support but no one speak Russian here to translate it. I suggest you try mod it bit by bit and see how far you can go, the knowledge is scattered in lots of threads and not orginized, you may need more time and patient

For question 1, you may need to check out some of the skin/mod threads on the top of this section. I never change the skin. For question 2, you can get the latest map here. The latest maps are dated 2010 Q2. Map files are store in APL2\iGo\CONTENT\MAP. Please beware that the new map files are bigger and I selectively install the one I needed. Map files can be run from the SD card but you need to edit a ini file which I forget the details. You can search the forum on it. AFAIK, no one successfully get iGo Primo running on F500 but I know you can run Garmin or TomTom. Those mods invoke quite a

If you only modified a few files, I would suggest just copy the files over. When I update the map files, I would copy the whole map directory because all the map files are new. I rarely overwrite the whole "My Flash Drive", the least you change, the smaller chance it would screw up and easier to correct if problem shows.

You got most of the steps correct After booted into "Test Mode", you can remove the SD when the unit still running. Here's what I normally do: - Boot into "Test Mode". - Copy all the contents from "My Flash Drive" to the SD and rename it as "Backup" - Take the SD card out and put it into my computer and transfer the "Backup" to a safe place. - Copy the modified files or the whole app folders (depends on what I mod) to the SD. - Remove the SD from my computer and insert it back into the F500BT, all this time the unit is still running. - Copy the new files or whole app folders from th

BTW, your installation is very nice

Software is run from the internal storage (see step 6 in your original post). The SD card is only used to backup and transfer the new or modified software to the internal storage. Here's how F500BT load/boot up (a simplified view): 1. It load the Windows CE image stored in the programmable ROM. 2. Check all mounted devices (internal storage, SD card and USB drive) and see if it need to performance any specific task. 3. If no specific task found, load the application in the internal storage. Unit now operates as normal. In order to modify the application in the internal storage, the

Load the SD card with TEST MODE software and the new version of AVIC software. If your unit is in sleep mode, you need to restart the unit by holding the power button for more than 5 seconds to turn it off, and power back it on. Your unit should now boot into TEST MODE and you can then copy the software to your internal storage. No need to reset the unit from the back.

You can have 2 video inputs. The build-in back up camera input plug is a standard RCA input, you can use any type of camera. Not sure about the iPod composite cable but F500 do have a separate AV input port and you can use it along with the AUX in to get iPod video and sound in; however, you will lost iPod control from F500. Check this Connection Chart as a reference