HOW TO: Update F500BT to FX3.1 AND 2011/2012 TA Maps

[Glassweaver]

This tutorial will get you the FX3.1 firmware and Q32011 TeleAtlas map updates working on your F500BT. An added bonus is that if you installed your unit wrong from the start (Improper parking break connection) that nag screen will disappear, and the address entry lockout when in motion becomes disabled. Anyway, I've been driving around all day with my newly updated F500, and the maps/poi work great, as does the voice over. Phone syncs up with BT as well. What I have not tested is the speech recognition or the ipod/music player interface. It looks like they will work, but I have not tested it! If you follow the directions exacly as I wrote them, this is noob proof. If you don't, you could brick your AVIC.

 

If you notice any misinformation or dead links, feel free to post em here, but if I don't reply please email me directly to get my attention. Odds are I'll forget about this post in a few months and not be looking for new replies. My email address is my username at gmail dot com.

 

It takes about 2 hours to complete, but most of that time is spent just waiting for files to transfer. Do not attempt this if you're impatient or going to cut corners/skip steps. If you do that, you WILL brick your AVIC. This tutorial and the files I've bundled for it are ONLY for the F500BT. Please read through everything before beginning.

 

For starters, I need to say thanks (BIG TIME thank you) to hieppo for originally creating the walk through I'm condensing & slightly modifying here, to poohbearalpha for quoting his post (I honestly wouldn't have found it if he didn't) and GG777 for providing the only working links I could find to the WinCE images needed to get this working on the F500. Links to the threads from these guys are at the bottom of the post.

 

 

Again, do not skip steps. Also, do NOT attempt this tutorial unless you have an SD card 4GB or larger.

 

1. Download the F500BT_FX3 rar file I've made from here

Download the maps/poi files from here

Once you've finished downloading both, extract them.

 

2. Copy the maps & poi folder (do not copy the hnr folder) from the iGO_R3_US-Canada_TeleAtlas torrent and paste them into ...\F500BT_FX3\My Flash Disk\APL2\iGo\CONTENT

 

3. Delete state maps you don't need and their corresponding state POIs until the ENTIRE "My Flash Disk" folder is under 2 gigs in size. This folder HAS to be under 2 gigs in size before you proceed. Personally, I'd only keep the maps for the state you live in, and all the states that surround it. That should get you under the 2 gig limit, but make sure you check.

 

4. Backup any files you have on the SD card you will be using and format it. Now copy the entire contents of my F500BT_FX3 folder to your SD card.

 

5. Make sure your device is powered off (not just sleeping) and insert the SD card. Now power it up. If you've done steps 1-4 properly, it will have booted into windows CE.

 

Note: Windows CE has a 60 second learning curve. To highlight multiple files, you just click the touchscreen, and drag your finger/stylus as you would the mouse when highlighting multiple items on your own PC you use everyday. Also, you have to pause for about a tenth of a second between clicks when double clicking. If you do it wrong, Windows CE loves to just drag the icon around instead of opening the item. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Also, copying/pasting is done from the file menu. You can't just press & hold like you can on WinMo handhelds.

 

6. Now that you've read the note/crash course on navigating through Windows CE, open the 'my device' icon on the desktop, and then open the "My Flash Disk" icon. Highlight everything in the folder and copy it.

 

7. Go back up a level, and click on the icon for your SD card. Now go into the "AVIC F500 BACKUP" folder and paste. If you've done this right, you should have just copied everything from the F500s flash memory into this backup folder. This is extremely important because if something goes wrong with the update, you're going to hope to god you have this backup file in tact.

 

8. Click the restart icon on the desktop, and try to press both the power button and reset button in the back as soon as you can, before the pioneer start up screen goes away. If you've done this right, you'll see a blue service screen asking you to press reset again. Do not do what it asks. Instead, press the following keys in this order: MAP, MAP, MENU, ENTER (down on joystick), MENU then ENTER. (each button press will show an asterisk at the bottom center of the screen). If the correct combination is pressed, then a menu with options pops up.

 

9. The only way to interact with this menu is the reset button on the back. A short "tap" on the reset button cycles you through the menu options. A long press of it selects an option. Effectively, you want the first option (choice 0) on both screens, or two long taps. Once you do this, a progress bar will show up indicating how the firmware update is going. Once it's done, says its check went ok, and asks you to restart, press the restart button in until the unit restarts.

 

10. You should now have booted back into Windows CE. Open 'my device' and copy the contents of the 'My Flash Drive' Folder from the SD card to the 'My Flash Drive' that is located on the unit. Overwrite everything. Once this is done, go back to the desktop double click the restart icon, and then quickly remove the SD card as the unit restarts.

 

11. The unit will take a couple minutes to load. Once it does, choose your language/voice settings, and enjoy FX3.1 with the 2011 Quarter 3 TeleAtlas Maps

 

NOTE: If something went wrong after step 9 (you found even newer maps that turned out to be incompatible, something is wrong with the firmware/it won't load properly, etc)... turn the unit completely off (not just sleep mode), reinsert the SD card, and power it back on. You should now have booted back into Windows CE. Open 'my device' and copy the contents of the 'AVIC F500 BACKUP' Folder from the SD card to the 'My Flash Drive' that is located on the unit. Overwrite everything. Once this is done, go back to the desktop, double click the restart icon, and then quickly remove the SD card as the unit restarts. this restores the original program and maps. If this doesn't fix the issue, but you got back into testmode/windows CE, try downloading the original 2.0.. firmware from pioneer here.

and then repeating this step to restore your original maps.

 

Thank you to GG777 for the info you provided in this thread: http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/31481-ver-30-or-later-on-f500bt/

Thank you to poohbearalpha for post #381 in this thread: http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/27807-fx31-complete-firmware-image/page__st__375

And most of all, thank you to hieppo for the post that poohbearalpha quoted you on. I still can't find your original post. (Thanks again to poohbearalpha for quoting it )

[xaviern]

Hey! 

 

I would love to try this on my own F500BT but all the links to the FX3.1 file are dead. 

 

Do you still have the file and would you mind sharing it? 

 

I would greatly appreciate it!

 

kind regards

[ipeiris]

I really need this

[Raiikoh]

I would also like the F500BT_FX3 rar file if anyone still has it. Would be much appreciated.

[alexhoward]

I have the original F500BT_FX3 rar file if you need?

[JoeBarTeam]

Is this thread still working? I'm trying to update a F500BT eu version.. no luck so far. Is it possible to send me the F500BT_FX3.rar file?

[Raiikoh]

Still looking for the file, I wasn't able to connect with alexhoward. Anyone?