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How to fix for AVH-W4400NEX boot loop

By HondaR · Feb 04, 2021in NEX Series💬 121 posts👁️ 73,791 views
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Posted May 06, 2022 · 01:20 UTC#76

I created an account on this site just to say thank you to all contributors in this thread.  I was surprised to find out how common this issue is and just how simple the solution turned out to be.  Got my W4400 back up and running!

 

Thanks again - cheers!

MN

 

Posted Jun 04, 2022 · 04:36 UTC#77

Will this work for the 4500?

Posted Jun 29, 2022 · 09:04 UTC#78
On 2/25/2021 at 3:45 AM, industrial6 said:

I had the exact same issue recently, and used this same image written to a 32gb MicroSD in an adapter with no issues. I was able to manipulate the front bezel after removing just two screws (and not the mechanical slide on the bottom) to eject the OE SD card and tightly insert the replacement, done in 5minutes. Just in case that link goes down, here are the known AVH/SPH images as a backup: http://sixgov.com/filestorage/forums/avic411/

hallo, sorry can i get the password for avh 8800 image?

Posted Sep 09, 2022 · 21:17 UTC#79
On 4/6/2022 at 5:56 PM, RRamirez said:

Hello All,

   I started having issues with my AVH-W4500NEX on Monday and found this thread today. Where can I download the newest firmware from to fix this bootloop issue? TIA

I also have another issue with this HU. The front face does not open up and slide out when you press the button. any ideas? It never has since new.

 

Robert.

 

On 4/6/2022 at 5:56 PM, RRamirez said:

Hello All,

   I started having issues with my AVH-W4500NEX on Monday and found this thread today. Where can I download the newest firmware from to fix this bootloop issue? TIA

I also have another issue with this HU. The front face does not open up and slide out when you press the button. any ideas? It never has since new.

 

Robert.

Mine was opening either but that was because the aftermarket stereo lit bezel was too snugged. I ended up trimming too n bottom of bezel and now mine HU opens

Posted Sep 11, 2022 · 14:40 UTC#80
El 24/2/2021 a las 15:45, industrial6 dijo:

Tuve exactamente el mismo problema recientemente y usé esta misma imagen escrita en una MicroSD de 32 gb en un adaptador sin problemas. Pude manipular el bisel frontal después de quitar solo dos tornillos (y no la corredera mecánica en la parte inferior) para expulsar la tarjeta SD OE e insertar firmemente el reemplazo, hecho en 5 minutos. En caso de que el enlace se caiga, aquí están las imágenes AVH/SPH conocidas como respaldo: http://sixgov.com/filestorage/forums/avic411/

hello, password of the compressed file avh-x8800 please

Posted Sep 20, 2022 · 22:02 UTC#81

Hi all,

I have a 4400 w/ this issue. I followed all of the instructions, and really didn't hit any snags - I thought it was going great. Flashing the SD card went just as everyone said it would, disassembly was all good... Then I hooked it back up to the car and started the car, and absolutely nothing happened. There was no sign that it had powered up. The display was completely dead (not just blank -- it appeared to be not turned on at all). Although I did not test the voltage to the wiring harness, my Crutchfield support person walked me through testing the voltage on that just a couple of days earlier, so I have reason to believe that's all good.

I have so many questions now.

1. Is there a way to tell if it's powering on but failing to boot vs. not powering on at all without using the screen?

2. Can a corrupt or misformatted SD card cause this behavior?

3. Anyone seen this issue before? Did you get it resolved? How?

4. I used the very long disassembly procedure in the originally-linked video. Could something simple like a loose ribbon cable cause this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Posted Sep 21, 2022 · 00:27 UTC#82

Q#1. I would think that if there is power going thru the unit you should be able to tell. 
Q#2. No, I do not believe so. 
Q#3. I personally have not seen this. 
Q#4. I think that a loose or incorrectly attached ribbon cable could cause this. 
 

If you or a friend has a voltage meter I would check the plug that plugs into the back of the unit to see if it is getting power. That’s the first thing I would do, could be a blown fuse. 

Posted Oct 13, 2022 · 16:04 UTC#83

Are you essentially doing a "manual" update of the F/W to 1.0.2, by tearing the unit apart?  (Since you can't physically get to the regular media SD card because it's stuck in the boot-loop?  I ask because I believe I actually got my unit to take the 1.0.2 F/W update the "normal" way, yesterday after my unit all of a suddent decided to correctly boot-up.  I previously had went through the instructions on the Pioneer website for getting the 1.0.2 F/W loaded on an SD card.  So I did the update the normal way yesterday.  It did fail the update a couple of times, but the auto-recovery eventually got to 100% complete and it displayed the F/W was successfully updated!!  HOWEVER, when I went to boot it up, I am stuck back in the boot-loop as before.
 

Posted Oct 16, 2022 · 12:59 UTC#84

I fixed my boot loop issue yesterday in about 30 minutes.  I ordered a preloaded SD card from eBay with the NEX AVHW4500 software on it.  

I was not able to lower the front screen using the eject button (as I had no access to the settings functions due to the boot loop error), so i pried the front screen off with a plastic stereo removal tool, then I manually pushed/forced the motorized tray that holds the front screen down so I could get access to where the internal SD card is installed. 

I then used Datsun's idea of creating an access slot underneath the external SD card reader to get to the broken internal SD card.  I used his pictures as a guide of where to make the slot. 

Few tips:  I first used blue painters tape to tape up the AUX cable hole and the external SD slot, as well as underneath the motorized tray so I could catch any little plastic shavings and make sure they did not end up inside the unit. 

I used a 1/16 drill bit to carefully and slowly drill holes through the plastic where the internal slot is.  Then I heated up a razor blade with a lighter, and used that to carefully melt/cut out the slot.  

Popped the old broken card out, inserted the new one from eBay and the unit powered and booted right up.  The only thing you have to do is set up your unit (and reconnect to your devices) as if it were brand new.  So make sure to write down or take screen shots of your iPhone settings prior. 

Hope this helps. 

Posted Oct 17, 2022 · 01:24 UTC#85

Glad I was some kinda help. Definitely worked for me, made it easy peasy. And if it happens again, burn a new card and replace the card. 

Posted Oct 17, 2022 · 14:42 UTC#86

Thanks a lot for that feedback.  One question of clarification:  Lamb, the SD card you bought on eBay was for a 4500 unit.  Is your unit a 4500, or a 4400 as mine is?  I'm assuming as this is a F/W load, I'd need an SD card made specifically for my 4400 unit and that one for a 4500 unit would not work.  Is that correct?

Posted Oct 18, 2022 · 00:42 UTC#87
9 hours ago, Stacey64 said:

Thanks a lot for that feedback.  One question of clarification:  Lamb, the SD card you bought on eBay was for a 4500 unit.  Is your unit a 4500, or a 4400 as mine is?  I'm assuming as this is a F/W load, I'd need an SD card made specifically for my 4400 unit and that one for a 4500 unit would not work.  Is that correct?

@Stacey64 My unit is a 4500, so I bought a card for 4500  ... I don't know for certain, but since this seems to be such a wide spread problem, my guess is that someone is selling SD cards made specifically for 4400 as well.  I assume the 4500 might work for you, but my guess would be that it would have a few bugs or be missing functionality.  Probably best to stick with the specific model number SD card for your unit.  
 

I made sure to read reviews and make sure the seller I bought from had a lot of positive transactions in his/her profile.  It cost me $35 all in.  Plus another $6 for a stereo removal tool kit from Amazon which had the pry tool in it. 

 

Posted Oct 18, 2022 · 00:44 UTC#88

@Datsun ... Yes massive help.  I would have never thought of that idea myself nor known where to drill into.  Yours came out way cleaner than mine, but I did get the job done, so i'll take it. Thanks again.

Posted Oct 18, 2022 · 01:27 UTC#89

Happy to help. 

Posted Oct 21, 2022 · 02:04 UTC#90

I can confirm that I did this for my AVH-W4400NEX and solve all the issues I had. 

Phones would pair via BT to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay but as soon as the unit was off, all of that got deleted and had to pair the phone again or just use a cable all the time.

Downloaded the image, burned it on a 16GB brand new SD card and replaced it. 

 

Posted Oct 22, 2022 · 14:36 UTC#91
On 10/16/2022 at 7:59 AM, Lamb said:

I fixed my boot loop issue yesterday in about 30 minutes.  I ordered a preloaded SD card from eBay with the NEX AVHW4500 software on it.  

I was not able to lower the front screen using the eject button (as I had no access to the settings functions due to the boot loop error), so i pried the front screen off with a plastic stereo removal tool, then I manually pushed/forced the motorized tray that holds the front screen down so I could get access to where the internal SD card is installed. 

I then used Datsun's idea of creating an access slot underneath the external SD card reader to get to the broken internal SD card.  I used his pictures as a guide of where to make the slot. 

Few tips:  I first used blue painters tape to tape up the AUX cable hole and the external SD slot, as well as underneath the motorized tray so I could catch any little plastic shavings and make sure they did not end up inside the unit. 

I used a 1/16 drill bit to carefully and slowly drill holes through the plastic where the internal slot is.  Then I heated up a razor blade with a lighter, and used that to carefully melt/cut out the slot.  

Popped the old broken card out, inserted the new one from eBay and the unit powered and booted right up.  The only thing you have to do is set up your unit (and reconnect to your devices) as if it were brand new.  So make sure to write down or take screen shots of your iPhone settings prior. 

Hope this helps. 

Can you give any more details on how to remove the front? Were you able to leave the unit in the car?

Posted Oct 24, 2022 · 13:00 UTC#92
On 10/22/2022 at 10:36 AM, DarinG said:

Can you give any more details on how to remove the front? Were you able to leave the unit in the car?

@DarinG

I bought this car stereo removal kit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081SPBYFM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

I used one of the plastic pry tools to carefully wedge under the center of the screen and "pop" it out.  If you are slow and careful you won't cause any damage to the screen or the plastic frame around it.  I watched a guy on Youtube do it, and that gave me the idea.  Should take under 1 minute. 

Once the screen was off, I manually pushed the metal panel that the screen connects to down.  There is another video on Youtube showing how to do this with pliers and some force, but I didn't need to use pliers.  I just applied pressure and pushed from the top down and out to mimic the way the motor would do it had the unit been functioning properly.

I did not have to remove the entire unit from the dash at all.  All you need is to access the panel behind the screen and the screen holder, drill or cut out a slot to access the internal SD card, replace the card, click the screen back on, and start it up.  You can then press the Eject button in the lower right corner of the unit and the screen should move back up to normal position.

Hope this helps. 

Posted Nov 02, 2022 · 14:50 UTC#93

que tal amigos  nesesito ayuda.  , No puedo. Hacer eso en mi AVIC5200nex.      Sigue dándome. Error  ayuda!!!

Posted Feb 16, 2023 · 16:41 UTC#94

Just want to share this is super, super helpful and continues to be a fix for the boot loop on the AVH-W4400NEX.  Dead battery seemed to create the boot loop and this all worked like a charm.  took about an hour to do all these steps for me (newbie).

Posted Mar 12, 2023 · 00:50 UTC#95

Thanks, I got my AVH-Z9100DAB back alive with the AVIC.img, however now I’m not able to access FM and DAB audio sources. Any suggestions for that issue, is there a better matching image somewhere or what can I do?

/Thanks

Posted Mar 21, 2023 · 16:10 UTC#96
On 2/4/2021 at 11:52 AM, HondaR said:

Hi guys

Had this problem today, and thankfully this forum exists so manage to rummage through the pages and then put a fix together.  Thought I'd save future people some hassle and just put in one thread (I dont take credit for the IMG, it was found in the IMG thread but here goes)

This will repair the boot loop loading screen.

First off, you'll need a replacement SD card, the one I used was still stuck in the headunit as I used to use it for firmware updates and had a few tracks on.  The image file is just over 8gig but I used a 64gb one because it was what I had.  I'm sure a 16gb would work fine.  This was formatted to ex-fat.

Here is a link for the IMG file download (credit to Jamesl75 who posted it on the other thread)

https://mega.nz/file/SdJCgKCJ#13zrFlogMCWNohCvuFsDFcC1uniHgufVZJxZlQPHUag

Once you've downloaded that file, unrar it and save it on your desktop.

Next download win32 disk image https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/

Open win32 diskimage, open the img file from your desktop then select the SD card drive... lets it do its thing for 4-5 minutes.  Note the finished SD card was unreadable on my laptop... at first I thought this was a problem, but turns it it worked perfectly fine.

Next involves the stripping down of your headunit to get to the memory card.  I used this youtube video below.  Did everything except disconnect the last ribbon connecting the metal face backing to the unit... managed to angle the black plastic backing to give me just enough space to get the old card out and the new one in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cHp6jxD5R8

Then fit back into your car and it should work!! It did for me, and literally took me all of 20 minutes of get done and enjoy your working headunit again

 

Worked like a charm!

Posted Apr 30, 2023 · 17:50 UTC#97
On 11/29/2021 at 3:52 PM, Datsun said:

I have the W4500 that started going wacky in September, first it started in the boot loop, then it started working again, well somewhat working. Anyhow I ended up here looking for an answer, watched a few videos and ended up ordering the car from Russia on October 3rd. I took the front off the unit and cut out the slot with a 3/8 drill and a file for when the sd card shows up I am ready to switch it out. Haven’t seen it yet. Maybe I should have ordered the card from Pioneer but I called them and asked if the software came with the sd card for $100, they told me no. So I called a supplier of theirs, I think it was “PacParts”, same price. I asked them if the software came with the card and they said yes. So since the unit functions good enough for now I’ll wait to see if the Russian card shows up for a little while longer. 

I just stopped in to post that this thread saved my radio too! At first, I thought my USB cable to my Android phone was going bad as the radio started to drop my Android Auto connection frequently. Then a couple of weeks later, it started glitching out bad and after a few minutes I got the Software Error message. Found this post and it saved me!

I too followed Datsuns post on page 2 and cut a slot with a dremel. I used this Youtube video from Mannix C to remove the faceplate and pull down the mechanism to expose where I needed to cut. The issue I struggled with most was removing the face of the radio. I had forgotten about the slider button underneath, as shown here in my photo:

20230428_211108.jpg.bd1e590ab5e375b009b541903f45368c.jpg

You have to reach in with a plastic pry bar and slide that lever to the right and then the face will pop free. 

And here's my slot cut with the Dremel. Not as pretty as Datsun's but did the job! Picture shows the OEM SD card after pulling it out.
20230428_210037.jpg.3093c187c49a7b148ab614e3598aa423.jpg

I downloaded the firmware from this thread and used my Windows 10 computer and flashed it onto a 32GB card I had laying around using Belena Etcher, which I had also already installed from flashing other software onto SD cards (Home Assistant). It all worked great and the radio booted right up.  I then did a Factory Reset through the menu to make sure it was all cleaned up.

I struggled at first to get Android Auto wireless to setup and just gave up. But then I just plugged in my USB to my phone and it just popped up automatically. Then the next time as soon as I started my truck, Android Auto wireless just plain worked!

So I'm all back to the way I was. Thanks!

Tom

 

 

 

Edited Apr 30, 2023 by Gunn
Posted Apr 30, 2023 · 22:20 UTC#98

Glad something I posted actually helped someone here. Great News on you fixing the issue. 

Posted Jul 23, 2023 · 15:46 UTC#99

 

Good morning, I have the same problem as many of you: damaged sd. My system is a pioneer avh-z9200dab (Europe - Italy) and I can't find the right software. Can you help me?

Posted Jul 31, 2023 · 15:37 UTC#100

I used this image on my AVIC-5100NEX and it seemed OK. I then upgraded, actually downgraded, to the Pioneer 1.11 which seem to be the only firmware upgrade for this unit.  Everything seems to work fine.

Thanks for the help!

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