I too just tried the bypass and found that it does work very well! I found it difficult to soldier but not impossible.

I have one question for other people that have done the hack though. Does your speed readout on the vehicle dynamics still work? Mine doesn't show my correct speed now. I am going to do a software reinstall and clear out all of my memory to see if that helps. No big deal, I was just wondering.[/list]

I just reset my software and that seems to have fixed it. Thanks Guest for the bypass!!

I checked the performance gauges and correlated them to my actual speedo and its right on. Maybe you need to recalibrate your 3D learning cycle or your speed sense wire came loose??

Ihad my n2 installed a year ago. The installer said he bypassed the driving restrictions for me. Cool. Everthing was available to me while driving. Movies, rear video input, POI, maps, you name it.

I downloaded the v60 disk, burned it a DUAL layer, and upgraded my system. I can still watch movies while driving (at least from the external inputs, have not tried the internal DVD player though), but what I can't do it enable / search the POI or any of that stuff. Bookmarks work fine, but parked or driving. Ebrake switch or not, I can't get into about half of the features of the GPS portion.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can try? What I can look for? Is it possible my burned DVD is missing some vital part? any help would be great. My nav is now only partialy useable :(

This is really great stuff! Thanks very much for the info folks. I will try this right away =]

Out of curiosity though, how big would you say these points are? I'm sure many of you have modded an xbox, would it be in comparison?

Haha thanks again for the great info!

WOW .. thanks everyone.. i did the modification .. took 1hr .. really nice..

now new maps .. and still able to watch dvd and change gps info.

was it hard?

no .. not at all.

take you time..

get the right tool..

and 2 pages from the service manual are so HOT and important.

oh oh, got a problem.

It was pretty easy and I had no issues at all...cept after doing this mod I now get "mechanism error" on the bottom of the screen.

My avic sounds like its having problems when it powers up cause you can hear the DVD unit making that normal warmup noise, and taking longer than normal.

I can still use XM and the radio and all the buttons seem to work. Also, it wont take a CD in...and when I hit eject it sounds like it keeps ejecting but theres nothing in it.

Any ideas?

I also just done the mod and stripped those bracket screws beyond screw driver support :( thank goodness for the leatherman as I just loosened them with needle nose pliers and they came right out. I got a good grip on them with my leatherman and it was no problem.

amp3d said:

oh oh, got a problem.

It was pretty easy and I had no issues at all...cept after doing this mod I now get "mechanism error" on the bottom of the screen.

My avic sounds like its having problems when it powers up cause you can hear the DVD unit making that normal warmup noise, and taking longer than normal.

I can still use XM and the radio and all the buttons seem to work. Also, it wont take a CD in...and when I hit eject it sounds like it keeps ejecting but theres nothing in it.

Any ideas?

Try taking it apart again and check the ribon cables for the DVD mech. Take them out and seat them really good again on both sides of the cable.

Paul1965 said:

I'd actually like to find a way to hack the remote so it can be used to control the DVD functions instead of having to use the touch screen. Any thoughts?

Try the CD-RV1 remote.

lehe said:

Paul1965 said:

I'd actually like to find a way to hack the remote so it can be used to control the DVD functions instead of having to use the touch screen. Any thoughts?

Try the CD-RV1 remote.

That would work great, but I don't want to have to use 2 remotes. I'd like to be able to hack the CD-VC1 remote instead though. That way everything is controlled by one remote that's already mounted to the steering wheel.

anyone have the n2 service manual they would care to sell a copy of?

I am thinking of trying this mod out this weekend.
I used to solder circuit boards for a living for about 3 years when I was much younger.
But have not had much exercise in soldering in awhile, and also the stuff I was solding was not mini surface mounted stuff like this, so I am nervous.
Maybe even more nervous of just taking the thing apart and getting it back together with out messing up the mechanics of the screen gears etc... My screen still works fine after several years of use and I dont want to mess it up, mechanical stuff like that scares me, once you mess it up, its toast.
I might take it to a local electronics repair place, but not sure, I have not taken anything to to a store like before.

Think I should tell them what the mod is for?
Also any suggestions on what kind of store to look for, stereo tv repair?

--- RANT START ---
I really think I can do the mod, but I would be sick to my stomach if I messed up my stereo.
I have had my N1 for awhile, and dont really even watch TV or DVD when driving, but every once in a awhile I have a person in the passenger seat that plays with the video, and I like that :) so I dont see any harm in it myself, I am always carefull while driving and dont want to get in a wreck myself.

Also the NAV functions need to work while driving anyway, I mean I have a guy in my passager seat when I using my SUV for work, and we go to diffenent sites around the area doing DSL install work, I have all the sites in the address book, so he will set the next path while we are rushing from one site to the next, sometimes having to input a new address while driving around, but letting the passager do it.

--- RANT STOP ---

Anyway let me know what you think about me doing this mod myself or what kind of electronics repair shop I should look for.
Does anyone knows a good place in or around Charlotte NC?

Thanks again to the guy that posted this mod! BTW

jsdeprey said:

I am thinking of trying this mod out this weekend.
I used to solder circuit boards for a living for about 3 years when I was much younger.
But have not had much exercise in soldering in awhile, and also the stuff I was solding was not mini surface mounted stuff like this, so I am nervous.
Maybe even more nervous of just taking the thing apart and getting it back together with out messing up the mechanics of the screen gears etc... My screen still works fine after several years of use and I dont want to mess it up, mechanical stuff like that scares me, once you mess it up, its toast.
I might take it to a local electronics repair place, but not sure, I have not taken anything to to a store like before.

Think I should tell them what the mod is for?
Also any suggestions on what kind of store to look for, stereo tv repair?

--- RANT START ---
I really think I can do the mod, but I would be sick to my stomach if I messed up my stereo.
I have had my N1 for awhile, and dont really even watch TV or DVD when driving, but every once in a awhile I have a person in the passenger seat that plays with the video, and I like that :) so I dont see any harm in it myself, I am always carefull while driving and dont want to get in a wreck myself.

Also the NAV functions need to work while driving anyway, I mean I have a guy in my passager seat when I using my SUV for work, and we go to diffenent sites around the area doing DSL install work, I have all the sites in the address book, so he will set the next path while we are rushing from one site to the next, sometimes having to input a new address while driving around, but letting the passager do it.

--- RANT STOP ---

Anyway let me know what you think about me doing this mod myself or what kind of electronics repair shop I should look for.
Does anyone knows a good place in or around Charlotte NC?

Thanks again to the guy that posted this mod! BTW

Hmm, I know exsactly where you are coming from. I am a very happy user of my avic thanks to this post! I completed it perfectly following this thread. Awesome!

The soldering im pretty confident you should not have any problems doing it. The points arent really that hard. They are, indeed small, but theres nothing around it to screw it up. I just covered up the surrounding area with tape before going near it with a solder iron. Use flux, tin the wire...and you should be good to go.

The hardest part by far, is the actual opening of the unit. Its actually really easy, almost impossible to screw up...if you are careful...and read the posts.

When you open the unit, dont forget about the little ribbon cables, and they need alot of respect lol. You will need to hold the top part of the unit with one hand, and the bottom part of the unit with the other. The will be connected by a very short ribbon cable...because of this cable connecting the 2 halves you cant lay it down until you dis-connect the ribbon cable, which is kinda tricky cause to disconnect the cable you will need to take out 4 screws. (Most humans only have 2 hands :? )

If you have an extra set of hands just ask them to hold some things for you while you remove the screws. You will know what I mean when you start to remove the cover.

The diagrams in page 3 I believe it is shall help you.

PS-If you start to open it and feel uncomfortable completing it, you can always put the lid back together and no damage should be done.

PPS- As a hint, after doing 2 avics, I have found that you should not remove the 2 TINY screws on the side that are used to hold little plastic clips, just remove the bottom ones. The bottom ones have to come off so you can disconnect that ribbon cable on the bottom, but the top ones actually keep the screen ON THE Tracks (grooves).

As opposed to what people here say, leave the screen in and closed when working on the deck. This makes sure you dont f the gears up ($129 to fix) and also gives you more slack (which you will need) when seperating the top from the bottom.

Ok, I tried this today.
And man it was a pain in the ass, I didnt have anyone to help me hold that top part while I was doing it, and I didnt disconnect any ribbon cables except that first one.
I left the screen in, and got to the area ok.
The areas you have to solder are very tiny and my soldering iron tip was probabaly not the best size for this job.
But I thought I got it ok. I will attach a picture of the soldering job I did.

REMOVED PICTURE CAUSE I SOLDERED IT WRONG!
Did not want to confuse people!

You can see it better on the picture than when I did it, cause I didnt have a magnified glass.
Anyway I was very nervous doing it, and got it back together ok, and the unit still works ok, BUT I am still not getting video while driving at all.
Still get the screen that pops up and blocks the video.

I will take it apart sometime soon and see if the wire feel off or something, I am guessing it must have.
I did put a small piece of electrical tape of the area before putting that cover back on, to make sure it didnt get messed up or shake around or anything.

I dont even have the energy to take it back out of the car and open it back up right now. I would pay someone to do it but havent found anyone close to me yet.

Make sure you have your parking brake lead from the unit grounded before you take this all apart again. You still HAVE to have the brake lead hooked to ground or toggled to ground for the DVD and NAV functions to work while in motion.

Looking more closely, it looks like I connected it to the wrong bottom location.
Lokks like I need to go up one spot!
DAMN cant belive that!

Going to have to open it again tomorrow or something and redo this.

Whoops, you're right! You did solder the wrong point. If you're soldering iron has too big of a tip, you can either buy a cheap one at Radio Shack (they're around $10.00) or buy a smaller tip for the one that you've got.

lol yep i was just gunna say you got the wrong spot :D
No worries.

I told ya it would be nice to have an extra set of hands didnt i? hehe

I find if you remove the other ribbon cables on the bottom of the dvd drive you can move the unit around easier without having to prop the drive up on its side or whatever.

NOTE! One of my avics I opened I lost a spring on the dvd drive that makes the drive know if a disc is going in or out. I would make sure to keep the dvd unit flat if you can, dont bump it around cause it will be a bitch if you lose any little springs.

Let us know how it goes :)

PS- PIck up a small butane solder iron, those are sick...no wires or anything....

PPS- delete that image when you are done, just some some noobie doesnt come in and think thats the image to use as a reference =]

Yea my iron sucks, it just a cheapo Radio Shack Iron, I used to use nice Weller irons when I did this stuff years ago.

BTW, those ribbon cables scare me, I felt like I was going to break them to get the ribbon out, maybe i am not doing it right, the first one I got out, but that small plastic peice you have to remove to get the ribbon out is fragile and I would hate to mess it up.
That first one (the one on the bottom of the unit that you remove to get the front off) scared me, I thought I was going to break it.
The other ones seemed brittle almost also, while trying to gently lossen the plastic peice to get the ribbon out.
So I didnt remove any other ribbons at all.
When I try next time, I am going to try to not remove that first ribbon maybe, not even sure if that front has to come off?
Are you supposed to pull them upward out push them out to the side?
I have removed ribbons from things before, But they were not near this fragile though.

Dont just pull the ribbon cables out. What you need to do is use a fingernail and lift up the little beize (did I spell that right) parts of the clips. These just flip up...not that fragize. Test it on the ribbon cable on the bottom of the avic first. Once you see that one flip up you will know how the other "harder to reach" ones work.

That first ribbon cable (the small one on the underside of the avic) must be removed or you cannot take the front panel off if I remember correctly. Let us know.

Trust me, the ribbon cables are very easy to take off! Flip the little white flap on the connector up.

Ok I got this fixed this mourning, seems to be working fine now!
I took it apart again, and moved that connection to the right point.

I still didnt remove any ribbon cables except that first one.
But yea I know you cant just pull them out, but they still seemed really strange, I just didnt have the hang of it.
But I didnt have that much problems while just leaving in the other ribbon cables.
Doing it the second time wasnt as scary.

Thanks for the help, its nice to have people to talk to about this stuff, before you mess up a $2000 dollar stereo unit!

Thanks again to the guy that posted this mod!
Makes me happy I got the new software version and all that, I was almost regreating it for awhile and thinking of going back to the old software.

this thread was starting to get a little confusing so I decided to make a tutorial, listed on my personal website. If this helps anyone then knock yourself out =]

Its just combined information found here pretty much.

http://www.eatmorepork.ca/modules.php?n ... opic&p=5#5

I am going to try to improve on this tutorial and gunna add some downgrade iinformation and stuff on there as well later.