F-Series Fresh Install when testmode fails

[kafklatsch]

My F500Bt had been working fine - My "IDT Mod" made using it super fun. then it happened. I got some type of a box in the upper right corner of the screen - it read "ATT". It would not go away. Mean while my avic would never get passed the "system startup in progress....." screen. I tried every thing. dozens of resets, tried testmode, tried re-installing the pioneer 3.0 upgrade. nothing worked. It was dead ....lets see, out of warranty, hacked, and bypassed, what would pioneer think if I sent it to them - I couldnt, I had to do something. I started searching the forum.. I combined some hard work from several threads and......... bingo!!!....If you have some ability to to this type of thing, read on.... if not, phone a friend.... you could FUBAR it for good.. This a reformat and reinstall process explained......

 

This thread http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/22894-f500bt-2006-and-x910bt-my-flash-upgrade-updated-p4/page__view__findpost__p__166895 shows how to get into the service menu. instruction re-pasted here:

To get to the service menu hold the reset button and then hold the Power button for 5-7 seconds (reworded for clarity)

Passcode is MAP,MAP,MENU,Enter (center of joystick),MENU,Enter

 

*** You MUST have your 2.0, 2.06, or 3.0 (or what have you) installation SD card. DO NOT PLACE IT IN THE UNIT JUST YET. I refer to my 3.0 in this write-up. Be consistent, use the WinCe that goes with that installation version.... do not mix and match ***

 

NOW, you must prepare an SD card with WINCEIMG.CKS & WINCEIMG.BIN copied to it. I got the WinCE files from my Pioneer 3.0 upgrade disk. You now have your WinCE Card.

 

Back to the Service Menu

Once in Service Menu the reset button is the only way of navigating. Short pushes move through options. Push and hold for 1/2 second to select an option.

 

In the service menu, I worked my way to the "reimage WinCe using MCC/SD (format)" option.

 

Insert the newly created WinCE card. in the service menu, hold the reset button for a 1/2 second to start the process of reformatting your drive and reinstalling WinCE. yep.... clean fresh reformat - those pesky problems are about to be wiped away ...

 

after this process completes, turn off the unit, put in your install SD card and restart (again, my 3.0 Install SD Card was used - be consistent). It began the process of reinstalling the entire pioneer package again...... 30-45 minutes (refer to the http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/23656-official-30-update-tutorial/page__view__findpost__p__173824 for the official Forum 3.0 install guide. or use the forum for install instructions for 2.0 or others)

 

This done, I was back to as good as new.... I reinstalled my "IDT Mod" and I am back in the saddle again. I now feel confident that any crashes or bad hacks can be remedied by using this process.