Hey guys,

There have been couple issues that people have been coming across, including me concerning the software on the F700bt.

I had my F700bt for a month or so, and it worked fine with the update. Then it started having problems with restarting and random splash screens, until it just began dying after the splash screen. Now when I turn on the car, the f700 goes to spalsh screen for about 15 seconds, then the screen goes blank. I tried to reinstall the update, so I put in the SD card and it started updating, then stopped at 78% or so and froze, saying something like "error: sizedisk is full." So I turned off the car and restarted it, and now at least the splash screen comes on and the box says system starting, please wait, but then it doesn't do anything and it restarts after like 2-3 minutes of being frozen there.

I'm thinking this is a software problem, so can someone please walk me through how I can go back to a clean start with my headunit? I tried the restart button but no luck.

If you guys can get into the wince mode and change things around, im sure there's a way to start from scratch. My head unit is pretty much bricked now, and I bought it online, so I can't return it, so I'm pretty much open to any suggestions.

Thanks in advanced.

Did you make a back up of every file and folder you changed?

What? No I didn't do any mods or hacking, I was asking if since the ability to hack and mod is there, then there has got to be a way to reformat the head unit back to factory settings, if the reset button isnt working.

Oh I'm sorry I misread it. So it started freezing out of the blue? That seems like a faulty unit problem of some kind if you didn't alter it. I'd try to get in touch with where you bought it and see if something can be done.

Same exact issue I have been having, posting about for a couple of weeks. I too bought online and Pioneer is of no help. Those that are reading this and have the ability to help, please consider doing so.

By help, I mean someone providing a clean backup of their \My Flash folder before any modifications were made.

I know that there are good backups out there that belong to members of this board. I know there are some that are in the mindset of "dude, you should have made a backup". Fine, If I was able to make a backup, I would have. But since I didn't do or try any mods, why did I need to make a backup? If someone wants to point out the reasons why there are no backup zips available on this site, I would like to hear them. this site certainly provides a wealth of information, including modified data.zip files. If some has a god backup, why are they choosing not to make it available? Size? no place to upload it?. I am just curious, because there are lots of you making mods. And you must have a good backup.

the firmware update is not a direct replacement/useable backup, so you can't just takethis code and go with it.

So how about it Stephanie?, CatchMeIfYouCan631, bitman? Anyone?

Well for one none of the hackers here, including myself, have ever had a need for a full Flash Disk backup.

Second, the size limit for .zip files on here is 2MB, the Flash Disk is by far more than that.

Third, there are some files that will not transfer from the SD card to the desktop, so even if someone managed to compress it enough to get a back-up on here, it won't be complete.

CMIYC...can you explain "best practice" for obtaining a full back up prior to making any changes? It seems to me the logical thing to do would be to get a total back up or image of your software on your pc, dvd, etc. for restoring your system. I think that's where a lot of folks are confused. How do you get a GOOD back up, and how do you restore it if required? If you (or anyone) can provide this tutorial, it would help a lot of folks understand.

Sending my unit back to Pioneer. Hoping for the best without a reciept.

I am going to request warranty work based on date of manufacture

CMIYC...can you explain "best practice" for obtaining a full back up prior to making any changes? It seems to me the logical thing to do would be to get a total back up or image of your software on your pc, dvd, etc. for restoring your system. I think that's where a lot of folks are confused. How do you get a GOOD back up, and how do you restore it if required? If you (or anyone) can provide this tutorial, it would help a lot of folks understand.

OK. Let's use for example, the Data.zip since that's the folder with the most demand, most hacks, and most mistakes. When you go to the iGO directory, rename the Data.zip to "DATA-bak.zip". Then paste the modded Data. Then when the unit looks for "DATA.zip" it reads off the modded one and ignores the original. That way, you have the original still in the unit, incase worst case scenario, you did mess up the modded file, all it takes to go back to normal is delete the modded and rename the orignal back to normal.

Personally, I don't think it's feasible to have your whole Flash Disk transferred to your computer, because if something goes wrong, then you have to go back to your house, insert the SD again, transfer over the original, go back to your car, and switch them out. It's just a redundant thing to do, also because if you do mess up so bad that you can't even get back into testmode, it doesn't matter if your backups are on your computer, inside your unit, or anywhere, it's bricked.

So in a nutshell, before adding a modded file to the HU, rename the original on the unit.

More than likely what has happened to me and others can not be fixed by restoring the backup. The flash disk holds certain information, but there is additional memory held on a disk partition that can't be accessed by the end user. If these files go wacko - for whatever reason, then Pioneer has the only fix.

So a backup of any kind will not help.

I am not one for litigation, but if ever there was acase for a class action suit....

because if you do mess up so bad that you can't even get back into testmode, it doesn't matter if your backups are on your computer, inside your unit, or anywhere, it's bricked.

 

And that's what separates the men from the boys. There is no guaranteed recovery.

I backed up all the files I could before updating to version 2.0

I am not happy with version 2.0

I am debating about copying my files from 1.17 on to my avic and restarting.

I have no Idea if this will work, but I may try anyway.

Has anyone done this?

Well for one none of the hackers here, including myself, have ever had a need for a full Flash Disk backup.

 

Second, the size limit for .zip files on here is 2MB, the Flash Disk is by far more than that.

 

Third, there are some files that will not transfer from the SD card to the desktop, so even if someone managed to compress it enough to get a back-up on here, it won't be complete.

The fourth reason is bigger and more important. Many of the files in a full backup are copyrighted. It would be illegal to post them, and the whole site might get taken down. It would be best if any backup trading were done that it be done privately and quietly.

I backed up all the files I could before updating to version 2.0

 

I am not happy with version 2.0

 

I am debating about copying my files from 1.17 on to my avic and restarting.

 

I have no Idea if this will work, but I may try anyway.

 

Has anyone done this?

The 2.0 update wrote a new WinCE image to your systems OS, so even if you replaced all with your old files it won't be the "EXACT" same.

I backed up all the files I could before updating to version 2.0

 

I am not happy with version 2.0

 

I am debating about copying my files from 1.17 on to my avic and restarting.

 

I have no Idea if this will work, but I may try anyway.

 

Has anyone done this?

 

The 2.0 update wrote a new WinCE image to your systems OS, so even if you replaced all with your old files it won't be the "EXACT" same.

The Win CE image is part of the backup. It should be the same after over-writing it with the 1.7 backup.

... the size limit for .zip files on here is 2MB, the Flash Disk is by far more than that.

I took a 2 GB SD card, put the boot files on it and copy/pasted the entire flash disk on it and have a copy on my computer. It is like 1.7gb or so, but not bigger than 2 gb - or it wouldn't have fit.

I did it and I'm not sure how well it worked. The thing is, I can't really tell all that much difference between 2.0 and 1.017. The obvious stuff went back like the boxes on the screen in map mode, however the boot seemed more like a 2.0 boot from what i can remember.

It made no difference when it came to my SD card the scroll bar didn't work when I'm sure it did before.

I replaced all the files including all windows CE, only ones I couldn't do were the ones I couldn't copy during the backup. The ones that give you the error... cannot copy files in rom.

After copying them all back which took some time, even the firmware version number went back to 1.017.

I didn't see any benefit in this since my scroll bar and FFWD still were still not working and these are my major issues so I ran the update package again and put my mods back.

My system is none the worse for the effort anyway.

This does go to show that if you have a good back up you can restore most everything.