Navigation & Audio How to: Update Nav software/enable British voice
#203
12-09-2013, 04:05 PM
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The problem is finding the right type of maps. BMW has Professional, Premium, Business, Next, Move, and High versions. The MINI uses the High version, which I can't seem to find without having to buy them. If you can locate the new High maps for North America, please let me know! I can't find them anywhere. The only one I found was from 2010 and I'm currently waiting for them to download.
#204
12-09-2013, 04:10 PM
The problem is finding the right type of maps. BMW has Professional, Premium, Business, Next, Move, and High versions. The MINI uses the High version, which I can't seem to find without having to buy them. If you can locate the new High maps for North America, please let me know! I can't find them anywhere. The only one I found was from 2010 and I'm currently waiting for them to download.
http://gpsunderground.com/forum/car-...s-systems/bmw/
#205
12-09-2013, 04:16 PM
panaphobic, I just purchased the original updated disk for about $14.00 shipped to my house. It's yours if you cover shipping. I tried updating by using torrents but had issues updating my firmware. I ordered the original disk and updated and now everything works flawless.
I purchased my 2014 east coast disk here and it works flawless! Best $15 spent. yeah, I'm pretty sure its a copy but it works great with no errors!
He also sells west coast or both for $25! http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-BMW-HIGH-VERSION-Navigation-DVD-System-Map-East-Update-/261346831924?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item3cd97c2e34&vxp=mtr#ht_937wt_1219
I found it online from multiple places. You can get it here though:
http://neiloakley.com/
I'm trying to get the new maps but I'm not about to spend $200 for them! That's just outrageous!
http://neiloakley.com/
I'm trying to get the new maps but I'm not about to spend $200 for them! That's just outrageous!
He also sells west coast or both for $25! http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-BMW-HIGH-VERSION-Navigation-DVD-System-Map-East-Update-/261346831924?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item3cd97c2e34&vxp=mtr#ht_937wt_1219
#208
12-13-2013, 05:45 PM
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That's the newest one. It should say version 10 somewhere under that on the same page. You can't upgrade it anymore. You could always burn a CD with the update software on it. If it's outdated, it will update, if it's the current one, it's will say you're using the newest one.
#210
12-13-2013, 05:49 PM
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And you don't need to burn it to a DVD, you can use a CD and it works fine. I used it on mine and it worked perfectly. Just burn the "image" to the CD. The best software I've found is ImgBurn. It's simple and easy to use, and it's free!
#212
12-13-2013, 06:29 PM
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#213
01-02-2014, 09:26 PM
2nd Gear
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Need some assistance.
We bought an '08 JCW Sidewalk, used from a PP, apparently it has on board navigation. We are the third owner and its missing the Nav DVD. The DVD case we have and the Nav OM, but no disc. When trying to access the GPS Nav from the computer, a 'loading' message comes on the screen but never loads.
What can we do at this point? Buy a replacement DVD ? Download s/w from MINI and burn our own DVD ? Please advise! TIA!!!!!
__________________
I'm a Cybernetic Organism; living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.
'08 JCW Sidewalk PW/B "Katie"
We bought an '08 JCW Sidewalk, used from a PP, apparently it has on board navigation. We are the third owner and its missing the Nav DVD. The DVD case we have and the Nav OM, but no disc. When trying to access the GPS Nav from the computer, a 'loading' message comes on the screen but never loads.
What can we do at this point? Buy a replacement DVD ? Download s/w from MINI and burn our own DVD ? Please advise! TIA!!!!!
__________________
I'm a Cybernetic Organism; living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.
'08 JCW Sidewalk PW/B "Katie"
Last edited by JCW_Oz; 01-04-2014 at 11:25 PM.
#214
01-02-2014, 11:55 PM
What do you mean by "Nav OM"?
First verify that you actually have no disc. Have you pressed the eject button on the nav computer (under the drivers seat in your Sidewalk)? If there is no map disc, I think the message would be different, like "no disc" or "please insert disc". A "loading" message may indicate that the laser head in the drive has failed, which is not unusual. The laser head is replaceable.
If you are truly missing the map disc, you can purchase a new one here: http://store.minigpsmaps.com/
BTW, also check the condition of your car battery. Low voltage can prevent the Nav computer from starting up properly.
First verify that you actually have no disc. Have you pressed the eject button on the nav computer (under the drivers seat in your Sidewalk)? If there is no map disc, I think the message would be different, like "no disc" or "please insert disc". A "loading" message may indicate that the laser head in the drive has failed, which is not unusual. The laser head is replaceable.
If you are truly missing the map disc, you can purchase a new one here: http://store.minigpsmaps.com/
BTW, also check the condition of your car battery. Low voltage can prevent the Nav computer from starting up properly.
Last edited by rkw; 01-03-2014 at 12:29 AM.
#215
01-03-2014, 12:51 PM
2nd Gear
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, Ca
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What do you mean by "Nav OM"?
Owner's Manual
First verify that you actually have no disc. Have you pressed the eject button on the nav computer
Yes
(under the drivers seat in your Sidewalk)? If there is no map disc, I think the message would be different, like "no disc" or "please insert disc". A "loading" message may indicate that the laser head in the drive has failed, which is not unusual. The laser head is replaceable.
Won't eject and I do think there is a disc in there now, as I tried to put in another DVD and there is def. something in the way.
BTW, also check the condition of your car battery. Low voltage can prevent the Nav computer from starting up properly
Car has full charge.
Thanks for your help I think you've pointed me on the right path. Next step is to yank out the driver seat to access the DVD drive.
Thanks again!
__________________
I'm a Cybernetic Organism; living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.
'08 JCW Sidewalk PW/B "Katie"
Owner's Manual
First verify that you actually have no disc. Have you pressed the eject button on the nav computer
Yes
(under the drivers seat in your Sidewalk)? If there is no map disc, I think the message would be different, like "no disc" or "please insert disc". A "loading" message may indicate that the laser head in the drive has failed, which is not unusual. The laser head is replaceable.
Won't eject and I do think there is a disc in there now, as I tried to put in another DVD and there is def. something in the way.
BTW, also check the condition of your car battery. Low voltage can prevent the Nav computer from starting up properly
Car has full charge.
Thanks for your help I think you've pointed me on the right path. Next step is to yank out the driver seat to access the DVD drive.
Thanks again!
__________________
I'm a Cybernetic Organism; living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.
'08 JCW Sidewalk PW/B "Katie"
Last edited by JCW_Oz; 01-04-2014 at 11:24 PM.
#216
09-11-2014, 03:07 PM
1st Gear
Join Date: Aug 2014
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Do you just literally use an black CD disk you can find? I don't have any at my home so I was just going to go out and find some. Just as cheap as possible.
#217
07-26-2015, 03:59 PM
*******
CAUTION: PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
As with all mods, the information provided here is without warranty. I am providing the steps for your information, but beware that problems may occur and that you accept full responsibility. Should you encounter any problems, please take a deep breath and relax before going ballistic, and post your problems to this thread and we will all do our best to assist you. You should be aware that the worst that can happen is that you will need to buy a new DVD system or you will have to perform a manual disk extraction which is highly involved and requires removal of the seat and the nav drive unit. This applies to whether you are using the instructions below, or request a CD from OctaneGuy.
************
UPDATING NAV SOFTWARE & ENABLING BRITISH VOICES
SOFTWARE UPDATE INFO
Did you know you can update the software of your Nav just by downloading a file from the net??? To find out what version you have, you go into the Settings menu and look at the upper right. You should see a 4-xx/xx
In my case it was 4-1/12. The 4 refers to the DVD Mark IV generation of the BMW Nav systems. The current latest version is 4-1/40. It looks like a huge jump, but it's really 4-1/12, 4-1/20, 4-1/30, and now 4-1/40, 4-1/42, and now 4-1/50.
You can see the full chart here:
http://x5world.net/navfaq.htm
Ignore that this page refers to the BMW X5. The nav info is the same.
To update your software, go to this link
http://x5world.net/nav_os.htm
Click on Version 24 and download the file.
This file is known as a CD IMAGE, and was created using software called Nero.
The file has been compressed in the RAR format, so to decompress it you need Winrar (http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm) or (www.pkunzip.com)
Now go to this URL
http://www.ahead.de/us/download_demo.php?pak=1
And download a free trial of NERO
Once you install it, run NERO
Select BURN IMAGE TO CD
Now just take this CD, and insert it into the DVD NAV player found under the passenger seat. If all goes well, your NAV screen will say it's reading the CD and the Update process will take about 6 minutes. It's actually much quicker.
After about a minute, it will tell you to eject the CD and click OK, then it reboots.
What are the updates?
Well visibly, the outside temperature is now displayed on the lower left corner which wasn't there before, although I believe this began at 4-1/20. Under Route Preferences, there is a new Avoid Ferries, and some of the wording has changed. More significantly, the languages were reduced from 5 to 3. I think I used to have German, now it's just USA E F (English, Spanish, French)--I may be mistaken though. Overall search speed has improved over the original 4-1/12 version. I didn't lose my address book or Last Destinations during the update either. There is a new method of setting the destination point that feels more intuitive and faster than the original 4-1/12 version.
There are supposed to be some other improvements, which I haven't noticed yet. This update does not get rid of the ACCEPT screen and it does not give you the female British voice.
All in all, I think it's a worthwhile update, and easy enough to do yourself.
More Notes:
MP3 info text on the navigation display from the Head Unit doesn't appear to be active on the MINI's when even using the 2005 head units.
**********
BRITISH VOICE UPDATE BY MODIFYING ABOVE UPDATE CD
You can enable either the British Female or British Male. In either case, the procedure is the same, and the Update CD will always think it's uploading the American Female voice, despite what the actual voices are.
Thanks to a tip from Buz, I found on GBMINI's website details on how to get the British Voice. It requires editing the ISO file that you can download from the BMW x5 site.
You still need the latest version of Nero. My previous version expired, so I downloaded the latest one and it works fine again.
You also need UltraISO.
The surgery needed is very simple. There are 2 folders that contain the American Female voice. You simply need to swap the American Female voice with the British Female voice by just renaming the British Female voice as the name of the American Female voice. You'll have to rename the existing American Female file so it doesn't conflict. I would just change the extension to BAK.
So navigate to the
V2/Voices/0502
rename usa_f.csf to usa_f.bak
rename gb_f.csf to usa_f.csf
V2/language/BMWOCN
rename usa4f.tsf to usa4f.bak
rename gb4f.tsf to usa4f.tsf
Now make sure your Nero is installed and save the new ISO image, and BURN to CD (all from UltraISO--which uses Nero's engine)
Take that CD and put it in your NAV and let it update the software.
Note, I have a 2003 MC, and it works! The Settings will still show USA--not GB, but the Female voice being used will be British Female. =)
Thanks to GBMINI (Ian Cull) and Peter P. Geremia for the tip!!
What does the voice sound like??
http://www.minisontop.com/oddstuff/English.wav
BRITISH MALE VOICE may not utilize the complete vocabulary and you could be missing words. Further testing is required, but use caution when choosing this voice until further notice. Compare the file sizes between the British Female and Male.
USA_F.csf = 2MB
USA_M.csf = 689kb
DO YOU HAVE MKIII (CD BASED NAV??)
At this point, I haven't seen anyone successfully update any CD based Nav systems to the British voices. You can update to the latest software, but the voices don't appear to be easily changed.
EXPERIMENTATION
If you want to try to get it to work, you may trying changing the voice files found in the ISO under MKIII. The file structure of the update CD is different for MKIII and MKIV systems. The renaming procedure above doesn't work on MKIII systems.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO ASSIGN DIFFERENT VOICE FILES TO THE LANGUAGE BUTTONS?
Yes it is, but the language sets don't appear to be easily changed. So while your Nav may speak English, Spanish, and French, assigning the GB Female to the English button and GB Male in place of Spanish is possible, all the menu settings and text will still display in Spanish or French.
LOOKING AT THE ISO, HOW ARE THE VOICE FILES NAMED?
d4f.tsf = Deutsch
ef4.tsf = Spanish
f4f.tsf = French
gb4f.tsf = Great Britain
i4f.tsf = Italian
usa4f.tsf = English
The netherland(NL) File is actually on the update ISO. There is only one file unlike the GB Female that has both a TSF and CSF, so I wasn't sure which ones to modify--so I took a chance, and used the GB File for the Language--though I assume it doesn't really matter and it spoke in NL and displayed everything in English.
It's under the V_2/Voices/0502 there is an NL_F.CSF---that's the Audio files for the Netherlands.
DO THE UNITS CHANGE ALONG WITH THE VOICE?
Nope, the nav will still read in Miles and Feet (Yards)
REMOVING NAG SCREEN AND GAIN ROUTE MAGNET
If you update the NAV with a software version earlier than the one installed, such as V23, then update with the V24 CD, your nav will be put in the "No LOCATION" MODE whereby, the ACCEPT nag screen will be removed. Going from V.24.2 to V.24 won't work--it needs to be a full version lower. Feet will change to Yards on the Map Scale, and the Route Magnet--a feature where you can request the nav to include a point you specify in the routing--available from Ver.24 and on is enabled. Some people have said that the MPG might be calculated differently as well using the British MPG instead of American MPG. Also in some cases, the MINI logo is replaced with a BMW logo on startup. Disconnecting the battery may solve the problem.
OFFICEMAVEN describes the Route Magnet
For those of you who don't know, the new "Route Magnet" feature is sort of like a waypoint. If you are currently navigating a route, then using the Route Magnet feature will allow you to set a point (i.e. a waypoint) on the current route and the unit will then try and force the route to be drawn near that point if it possibly can.
Think carefully before doing this mod as the only way to restore it, is through the dealer performing a computer update. I have no idea of the cost or whether anyone has actually had this done.
WHY AM I NO LONGER PROVIDING FREE CD'S??
Due to a recent number of failures during the update process, I no longer feel comfortable offering these CD's. There appear to be a number of variables that I'm not knowledgeable enough in regards to our NAV to know what is causing these problems (blank screens, cd won't eject, etc).
However since this article was in support of CAN (Cure Autism Now), if you find this article helpful to you, please feel free to continue making a donation of atleast $10 to Cure Autism Now. You can either send a check or use your Credit Card and PayPal me at donate@c3club.org, although I would ask that you donate atleast $12 to cover processing fees. If you're not sure how to do this, just use this link.
http://www.c3club.org/2/contribute.asp
Thank you to everyone that has supported CAN through these update CD's. Your contributions have been greatly appreciated.
CAUTION: PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
As with all mods, the information provided here is without warranty. I am providing the steps for your information, but beware that problems may occur and that you accept full responsibility. Should you encounter any problems, please take a deep breath and relax before going ballistic, and post your problems to this thread and we will all do our best to assist you. You should be aware that the worst that can happen is that you will need to buy a new DVD system or you will have to perform a manual disk extraction which is highly involved and requires removal of the seat and the nav drive unit. This applies to whether you are using the instructions below, or request a CD from OctaneGuy.
************
UPDATING NAV SOFTWARE & ENABLING BRITISH VOICES
SOFTWARE UPDATE INFO
Did you know you can update the software of your Nav just by downloading a file from the net??? To find out what version you have, you go into the Settings menu and look at the upper right. You should see a 4-xx/xx
In my case it was 4-1/12. The 4 refers to the DVD Mark IV generation of the BMW Nav systems. The current latest version is 4-1/40. It looks like a huge jump, but it's really 4-1/12, 4-1/20, 4-1/30, and now 4-1/40, 4-1/42, and now 4-1/50.
You can see the full chart here:
http://x5world.net/navfaq.htm
Ignore that this page refers to the BMW X5. The nav info is the same.
To update your software, go to this link
http://x5world.net/nav_os.htm
Click on Version 24 and download the file.
This file is known as a CD IMAGE, and was created using software called Nero.
The file has been compressed in the RAR format, so to decompress it you need Winrar (http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm) or (www.pkunzip.com)
Now go to this URL
http://www.ahead.de/us/download_demo.php?pak=1
And download a free trial of NERO
Once you install it, run NERO
Select BURN IMAGE TO CD
Now just take this CD, and insert it into the DVD NAV player found under the passenger seat. If all goes well, your NAV screen will say it's reading the CD and the Update process will take about 6 minutes. It's actually much quicker.
After about a minute, it will tell you to eject the CD and click OK, then it reboots.
What are the updates?
Well visibly, the outside temperature is now displayed on the lower left corner which wasn't there before, although I believe this began at 4-1/20. Under Route Preferences, there is a new Avoid Ferries, and some of the wording has changed. More significantly, the languages were reduced from 5 to 3. I think I used to have German, now it's just USA E F (English, Spanish, French)--I may be mistaken though. Overall search speed has improved over the original 4-1/12 version. I didn't lose my address book or Last Destinations during the update either. There is a new method of setting the destination point that feels more intuitive and faster than the original 4-1/12 version.
There are supposed to be some other improvements, which I haven't noticed yet. This update does not get rid of the ACCEPT screen and it does not give you the female British voice.
All in all, I think it's a worthwhile update, and easy enough to do yourself.
More Notes:
MP3 info text on the navigation display from the Head Unit doesn't appear to be active on the MINI's when even using the 2005 head units.
**********
BRITISH VOICE UPDATE BY MODIFYING ABOVE UPDATE CD
You can enable either the British Female or British Male. In either case, the procedure is the same, and the Update CD will always think it's uploading the American Female voice, despite what the actual voices are.
Thanks to a tip from Buz, I found on GBMINI's website details on how to get the British Voice. It requires editing the ISO file that you can download from the BMW x5 site.
You still need the latest version of Nero. My previous version expired, so I downloaded the latest one and it works fine again.
You also need UltraISO.
The surgery needed is very simple. There are 2 folders that contain the American Female voice. You simply need to swap the American Female voice with the British Female voice by just renaming the British Female voice as the name of the American Female voice. You'll have to rename the existing American Female file so it doesn't conflict. I would just change the extension to BAK.
So navigate to the
V2/Voices/0502
rename usa_f.csf to usa_f.bak
rename gb_f.csf to usa_f.csf
V2/language/BMWOCN
rename usa4f.tsf to usa4f.bak
rename gb4f.tsf to usa4f.tsf
Now make sure your Nero is installed and save the new ISO image, and BURN to CD (all from UltraISO--which uses Nero's engine)
Take that CD and put it in your NAV and let it update the software.
Note, I have a 2003 MC, and it works! The Settings will still show USA--not GB, but the Female voice being used will be British Female. =)
Thanks to GBMINI (Ian Cull) and Peter P. Geremia for the tip!!
What does the voice sound like??
http://www.minisontop.com/oddstuff/English.wav
BRITISH MALE VOICE may not utilize the complete vocabulary and you could be missing words. Further testing is required, but use caution when choosing this voice until further notice. Compare the file sizes between the British Female and Male.
USA_F.csf = 2MB
USA_M.csf = 689kb
DO YOU HAVE MKIII (CD BASED NAV??)
At this point, I haven't seen anyone successfully update any CD based Nav systems to the British voices. You can update to the latest software, but the voices don't appear to be easily changed.
EXPERIMENTATION
If you want to try to get it to work, you may trying changing the voice files found in the ISO under MKIII. The file structure of the update CD is different for MKIII and MKIV systems. The renaming procedure above doesn't work on MKIII systems.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO ASSIGN DIFFERENT VOICE FILES TO THE LANGUAGE BUTTONS?
Yes it is, but the language sets don't appear to be easily changed. So while your Nav may speak English, Spanish, and French, assigning the GB Female to the English button and GB Male in place of Spanish is possible, all the menu settings and text will still display in Spanish or French.
LOOKING AT THE ISO, HOW ARE THE VOICE FILES NAMED?
d4f.tsf = Deutsch
ef4.tsf = Spanish
f4f.tsf = French
gb4f.tsf = Great Britain
i4f.tsf = Italian
usa4f.tsf = English
The netherland(NL) File is actually on the update ISO. There is only one file unlike the GB Female that has both a TSF and CSF, so I wasn't sure which ones to modify--so I took a chance, and used the GB File for the Language--though I assume it doesn't really matter and it spoke in NL and displayed everything in English.
It's under the V_2/Voices/0502 there is an NL_F.CSF---that's the Audio files for the Netherlands.
DO THE UNITS CHANGE ALONG WITH THE VOICE?
Nope, the nav will still read in Miles and Feet (Yards)
REMOVING NAG SCREEN AND GAIN ROUTE MAGNET
If you update the NAV with a software version earlier than the one installed, such as V23, then update with the V24 CD, your nav will be put in the "No LOCATION" MODE whereby, the ACCEPT nag screen will be removed. Going from V.24.2 to V.24 won't work--it needs to be a full version lower. Feet will change to Yards on the Map Scale, and the Route Magnet--a feature where you can request the nav to include a point you specify in the routing--available from Ver.24 and on is enabled. Some people have said that the MPG might be calculated differently as well using the British MPG instead of American MPG. Also in some cases, the MINI logo is replaced with a BMW logo on startup. Disconnecting the battery may solve the problem.
OFFICEMAVEN describes the Route Magnet
For those of you who don't know, the new "Route Magnet" feature is sort of like a waypoint. If you are currently navigating a route, then using the Route Magnet feature will allow you to set a point (i.e. a waypoint) on the current route and the unit will then try and force the route to be drawn near that point if it possibly can.
Think carefully before doing this mod as the only way to restore it, is through the dealer performing a computer update. I have no idea of the cost or whether anyone has actually had this done.
WHY AM I NO LONGER PROVIDING FREE CD'S??
Due to a recent number of failures during the update process, I no longer feel comfortable offering these CD's. There appear to be a number of variables that I'm not knowledgeable enough in regards to our NAV to know what is causing these problems (blank screens, cd won't eject, etc).
However since this article was in support of CAN (Cure Autism Now), if you find this article helpful to you, please feel free to continue making a donation of atleast $10 to Cure Autism Now. You can either send a check or use your Credit Card and PayPal me at donate@c3club.org, although I would ask that you donate atleast $12 to cover processing fees. If you're not sure how to do this, just use this link.
http://www.c3club.org/2/contribute.asp
Thank you to everyone that has supported CAN through these update CD's. Your contributions have been greatly appreciated.
#218
07-26-2015, 04:54 PM
It should be underneath the passenger seat towards the rear. I own a 2005 and that is where mine is located.
#219
07-26-2015, 11:51 PM
#220
07-27-2015, 03:20 AM
#221
07-27-2015, 03:21 AM
#222
07-27-2015, 04:28 AM
#223
10-06-2015, 12:17 PM
#224
01-14-2016, 06:08 AM
Hi, I recently did a ecu reset due to a SES code of P2097, followed the instruction given on a thread, after that was done my nav said software update, please insert suitable cd rom, so I downloaded v32 from neiloakley.com and bunt it to s cd using imgburn, I put the cd in and it said update in progress or something like that, then the screen went blank and stayed like that for about 45 minutes, I've heard it takes longer to burn the disc, could that disc be bad or am I trying to install wrong update, please help as it's very frustrating.
#225
01-14-2016, 06:19 AM
Hi, I recently did a ecu reset due to a SES code of P2097, followed the instruction given on a thread, after that was done my nav said software update, please insert suitable cd rom, so I downloaded v32 from neiloakley.com and bunt it to s cd using imgburn, I put the cd in and it said update in progress or something like that, then the screen went blank and stayed like that for about 45 minutes, I've heard it takes longer to burn the disc, could that disc be bad or am I trying to install wrong update, please help as it's very frustrating.