w4500nex [FIX] SDCard Failed? Software Error on your w4500nex? Look here!

[bonee]

6 hours ago, Datsun said:

I had used a Windows machine to make a backup of mine but I am not sure that it worked for me. I ended up using Linux Mint, using the dd command to make a back image. 
Does this help ?

I've used osx, windoze and Linux. They all work.

[mickem60]

I appreciate the help thanks very much 

but I am no wiser.

I am new to this and what I really need is for someone to help me through the process preferably on a windows machine as I don’t have access to one with Linux.

Thanks again 

[mickem60]

22 hours ago, bonee said:

I've used osx, windoze and Linux. They all work.

What did you use on windows machine please help.

[Datsun]

I used Win32 Imager. 

[mickem60]

10 minutes ago, Datsun said:

I used Win32 Imager. 

Do you think it worked?

 I’m researching how to add a Linux partition to my computer did that one definitely work 

thanks again 

[Datsun]

When I used it I used a cheap sd card I bought on Amazon. It worked for a while, a very short while. Then I ponied up and bought a 16gb, class 10  San Disc sd card. Used my Linux Mint to image it on there and have no issues since. I might have screwed it up in the Windows machine, it was my first attempt at doing this or it just might’ve been the cheap card. 

[mickem60]

22 minutes ago, Datsun said:

When I used it I used a cheap sd card I bought on Amazon. It worked for a while, a very short while. Then I ponied up and bought a 16gb, class 10  San Disc sd card. Used my Linux Mint to image it on there and have no issues since. I might have screwed it up in the Windows machine, it was my first attempt at doing this or it just might’ve been the cheap card. 

Thank you so much sir 

I have bought a good quality card and will try the Linux method described in one of your posts, that’s when I figure out how to add Linux to my machine.

thank you very much for your help.

[Datsun]

I just hope it helps you. I was frustrated for a long time reading any and everything I could on here before I finally got it right. Good luck. 

[bonee]

16 hours ago, mickem60 said:

What did you use on windows machine please help.

Win32 Disk Imager

[mickem60]

1 minute ago, bonee said:

Win32 Disk Imager

Thanks a lot 

[f9uah]

On 7/16/2022 at 4:34 PM, mclairs said:

Hi All,

Anyone know if Z9250 is the same as W4500NEX? I tried changing the panel touch type to resistence, it does boot but the touchscreen aint working

not sure where else to look at. Just want to confirm before i burn more SDcard away. =(

 

[mickem60]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:42 AM, MaxL said:

If anyone interested i can help fixing.

Do you have a backup image of AVH-Z9200DAB thatI can use to restore my device any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[f9uah]

..........

 

[f9uah]

On 7/13/2021 at 1:19 PM, slackwaredragon said:

[7/13/2021 update - Part 2 added, see second post]

I've gotten a bunch of messages and gave a few empty promises (sorry guys) that I'd write this up. Life got busy and I haven't had time to tinker with my w4500nex, especially since I traded in my Jeep for a well-equipped Ram (that 12" screen is both awesome and underwhelming). I haven't played with this since but I figured at the very least I could give you a how-to so you could get your radios back online and hopefully someone can build upon my work and make these things really powerful. The software might suck, but the audio hardware and features are a lot better than many of the android models you find on eBay. I've broken this up into 3 sections; how to build a working SDcard from an readily available image using Linux, how to dive deeper down the rabbit hole to tinker with the NEX series and finally some thoughts and final notes.

Quick note of warning: Proceed at your own risk, opening up the device will void your warranty which is probably dead anyways. I'm not responsible for modifications you make to your radio. Something will probably go wrong. You might violate laws in your area. Going 88mph may or may not send you back through time - I hold no responsibilities for time paradoxes.

To get started… "My SDCard Died in my w4500nex, how do I fix it?"

What you'll need;

• 8gb or 16gb SdCard that's SDHC. SDHC is important, smaller than 8gb or larger than 16gb cards may not work. Even the right size cards might not work, these things can be finicky. Once you write an image to the card and boot the headunit with it installed, it'll lock the sdcard to the unit and you won't be able to re-use it. Best to have a few different brands as spares to be safe.
• SDCard reader (usb or internal).
  • Bonus: If wanting to experiment with cmd42 (how the SDCards are locked) then know that it seems random on which SDCard readers actually support the CMD42 protocol. 4 of the readers I had did not, but a random chromebook did. Raspberry Pis also support CMD42.
• Linux desktop, laptop or Virtual Machine. I used Ubuntu. This can probably be done on Windows, but I prefer to use Linux when working with Linux-based operating systems.
• Tools and instructions on how to open the NEX radio. (If someone is kind enough to post opening instructions, I'll link them here.)

How to make your own SDCard using the W4400NEX image and get a working touchscreen (read section 3 for more info on why this is necessary)

1. Download the AVH-W4400NEX v1.02 image from this thread (http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/82490-backups-and-images/page/8/ - first post on that link, the filename should be AVIC.zip).
2. Copy the file to your Linux machine if it's not already there and unzip the archive. You should see a file named AVIC.img. You'll need to mount this IMG file in Linux, access one of the partitions and change the sysd.conf file
3. Before mounting, make sure it's a valid image by using fdisk (fdisk -u -l .\AVIC.img). If you're using the file I linked above, it should have the same output as the below. 

   
   
   Disk ./AVIC.img: 7.53 GiB, 8068792320 bytes, 15759360 sectors
   Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
   Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
   I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
   Disklabel type: dos
   Disk identifier: 0x95516e09
   
   Device      Boot   Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
   ./AVIC.img1      1050624  1071103    20480   10M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img2      1071104  1091583    20480   10M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img3      1091584  4622335  3530752  1.7G  5 Extended
   ./AVIC.img4      4622336 15042559 10420224    5G 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img5      1091585  1153023    61439   30M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img6      1153025  1214463    61439   30M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img7      1214465  3311615  2097151 1024M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img8      3311617  3573759   262143  128M 83 Linux
   ./AVIC.img9      3573761  4622335  1048575  512M 83 Linux
   
   Partition table entries are not in disk order.

    

4. Now that you've verified the file, you'll want to mount partition 7 to access the sysd.conf file. To do this you'll want to create a new folder under /mnt (I named my avicpart7) and you'll need to know what the offset of partition 7 is in the SDCard. To get this number, look at the sector size (in this case 512) and do some math (START x SECTORSIZE = OFFSET). For this our offset is 621806080. The command would be sudo mount -o loop,offset=621806080 AVIC.img /mnt/avicpart7 - now when you do "ls /mnt/avicpart7/etc" you should the sysd.conf files in with all the other files in the etc folder.
5. We only care about the main sysd.conf file, you can modify it by doing 'sudo vim /mnt/avicpart7/etc/sysd.conf' (or your text editor of choice) and scroll all the way to "AVH_W4400NEX" and look for "sysdconf.com.TouchType" then change it from "capacitator" to "resistence". Alternatively, you can copy over the one I did at https://pastebin.com/deeQxhzN.
6. Now that you made the changes, go back to your home directory and dismount the partition connected to the image; sudo umount /mnt/avicpart7 (and rm -rf /mnt/avicpart7 if you don't need the directory anymore.)
7. Assuming your using the same PC to write the SD image, stick in a supported SDCard and use dd to write it (i.e. dd if=AVIC.img  of=/dev/sdX bs=4M where sdX = ID of your Sdcard)
8. Pop that bad-boy into your head-unit (remember to insert it into the hidden OS SDCard spot) and watch it boot. Note that depending on what firmware your unit was on, it might reboot a couple of times while it gets reflashed by the v1.02 firmware on the SDCard.
9. Provided you followed my instructions (and that I wrote them out correctly), the head-unit should work now.

This should get you going if you're having problems. The next post below goes more indepth about the environment for those who like to tinker. 

Thanks for the inspiration, successfully fixed, thanks again

[dmc23]

On 8/20/2022 at 1:14 PM, rtheil said:

I spent hours researching this over the last day, only to find that it's really hard to find what we should be doing TODAY. Had my radio act stupid yesterday morning, immediately ordered SD cards after research, and got it fixed today after work.

So, as of today, here it is for W4500NEX:

1. Buy SD card(s). I bought these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CKFWP6N

2. Download the image:
Compressed (fastest download): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-J9GN8cGtTwOvS_w0AEtBM9lReHBUrA8/view?usp=sharing
or
https://mega.nz/file/P4xCES6a#HM_DyeRdGmWY1wuN1TqyPoR8TyZrJN823oilXAoS-Qw
or
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1d5sUiiyI_zP4dP-JwWL7e_tYXjA3H9eE?usp=sharing

3. Flash SD card using rufus (or similar): https://rufus.ie

4. Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCvEen1p0g

5. Do the work. When done, make sure the ribbon cable has enough slack on the outside of the plastic face before pushing the display back in, otherwise it'll get pulled out of the plug.

6. Be happy.

I also ordered the $35 card off ebay because it was going to take a week. PacParts wants $95! That's ridiculous. People have got to STOP recommending buying from them! I then spent $28 for 5 SD cards from Amazon because I could get them delivered overnight. If anyone is desperate for an already flashed SD card, message me and we'll work something out.

Did you take a copy of the card you ordered off eBay?  I'm curious if it matches the image in your post.

 

Edit: In the event someone uses the first file, the AVIC4500only.zip, I found that it broke wireless Android Auto.  Still better than having a busted radio, but figured I'd throw out that warning.

Edit 2: So I was looking at an eBay listing for a pre-loaded SD card, the instructions said to Restore All Settings in System/Restore Settings/All Settings, erase the pairing from your phone, then choose Network Mode when the unit resets.  For whatever reason that seemed to work.  I might try to do another reset with Standard Mode, but at least I have it working again for now.

Edit 3: Did another reset, chose standard this time (much better for my sound, I wasn't happy with networked), and everything seems to work fine. Wireless Android Auto is working again. For whatever reason the backup camera screen seems to keep triggering, though I don't have one installed. I turned it off in settings, so we'll see what happens next time I go out.

Edited October 20, 2022 by dmc23