Guide to Replacing the NG4 Navidrive 3D Hard Drive with a CF Card

[GiveMeABreak]

Could be several reasons. You may have a hardware problem caused by overheating. Another possibility is that the hard drive has become corrupt, which can cause the restarts.

There is no need to get a hard drive image, as the firmware upgrade file is also able to recreate the partitions and the operating files itself. For this to work, you would need to have the latest firmware N42C on a USB, but first you would need to take the hard drive out, remove the partitions and format it as FAT32.

When you put the Hard Drive back in and boot with the USB in with the firmware on, it should start recreating the partitions for you from scratch. Obviously you will loose all your hard drive data, but in these circumstances there may not be another option.

If that does not solve the problem, then it may be hardware related, or the unit may need recovering. That needs specialist software and direct connection to the unit which is something we can’t help with.

[Yoshimura]

Hi everyone

I`m also facing problems with my NG4. It starts for 5 seconds and then goes off.

I think it could be HDD realted problem. Therefore I have made a copy of it with HDD Raw Copy tool, but it looks very strange.
It is just 12GB??? As mentioned in the thread it needs to be around 24GB but it is not.

Is this normal? Also how can I format the HDD and in what type of format - FAT32 i guess?
I`m planning to format it and just install the Firmware via USB. Hopefully it could solve my problems.

Thanks in advance!

[GiveMeABreak]

No It's not 12Gb. It has 4 partitions and does not use Windows - but QNX. 10Gb for Jukebox and the other partitions contain the operating system and system data files. The latest firmware sill recreate the partitions when booted if they are not there.

If you already have issues with the HDD, then you will just be cloning the problem....

If you are at this stage with it not working, then you have nothing to lose by formatting the HDD and booting the NG4 with latest firmware in USB and starting the car. It can take an hour.....

[Yoshimura]

Hi Marc

I was hopeing for your answer.

By me it is 12GB. Dont know why...
And at the end i have formated the HDD with HDD Low Level Format tool. It didnt let me to choose what type of formating to do. It just formated the entire HDD.
I have the FW on USB and I will see what will happen.

Thanks once again for your great info

Much appreciated!

[GiveMeABreak]

The Operating System used is a Unix variant for the automotive industry, and sometimes Windows can interfere with the file system. So maybe better to try a clean boot - the firmware should even format the drive correctly for you, so just to a quick format and let the firmware sort it. Don't forget this will increase the time - but make sure the car does not go into economy mode or it will corrupt the hard drive.

Better fill up the fuel tank and get a few books to read while you are waiting as always better to keep the engine running - but don't be tempted to stop it half way through.

[Yoshimura]

Hi
So have tried to install the firmware.
At the begining I couldn't cause the unit goes off every 10seconds and breaks down the installation.

So I decided to leave it so. After 10 I come back to the car and saw that the firmware installation was about 50 percent done!!!
Was very happy with that and left the car running in order to install it.
After 10 more I decided to see what happened.... The screen was black again. When I restarted the Navi it says that the update was interrupted by the medium and fault 0000x3.
Tried again several times to start the update again and couldn't manage.
The strange is that I can hear scratching noise from the HDD despite that the screen is black.
Also I have no communication with NG4 with Diagbox.

Gonna try to replace the HDD with other one. If it won't work the Navi goes in the bin.

BR

[GiveMeABreak]

You can always replace the HDD with the CF Card upgrade - no need to waste the unit - that's £2000 worth of kit - I know it's not much help when it's not working though.

You'll find it very difficult to get an automotive 40Gb IDE PATA hard drive now though and you can't use SATA either as this version of QNX doesn't support TRIM function, so will grind to a halt after a while.

If you follow my guide you can bypass the cloning and just put a blank CF CARD in, with adapter and boot from USB firmware.

BUT first check your USB stick is windows FAT32 formatted and contains no other files apart from the extracted upgrade files. Sometimes the media can be the cause.

[Yoshimura]

Hi Marc

Yes the mod with the CD card seems the best option.
About HDD - this Toshiba HDD is the same for many Navi units - NTG 2.5, 4.5, (Mercedes) MMI 3G (Audi), CiC ( BMW) and many more. It will be cheaper to source the entire unit second hand.

About the USB it is formatted FAT32 without any other media.

Is it a must that I need UDMA6 class CF card? Can't be 7 right?

Thanks in advance!

BR

[GiveMeABreak]

Correct as UDMA is 7 essentially SATA and that will soon ground to a halt.

The NG4 units are now very hard to source and the second hand automotive grade HDDs are hard to come by - as these MUST be PATA IDE drives. I tried looking for a new one (who would want a second hand HDD?) before doing the CF card mod and gave up. The system will never use any ore than 40Gb as the partitions are predefined, so any CF CARD of bigger capacity will be wasted as it won't be used.

[Yoshimura]

Hi Marc

So I found replacement hard drive. Installed it and still behaves the same way. Also made successfully update of the Firmware. Also the same problem.
Today I noticed that I get always Vehicle fault - system cannot be operated message on the screen.
Also as said I cannot communicate with telematic unit via Diagbox. Also communication fault for telematic ecu in BSI.

I'm out of ideas anymore.

BR

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok, so you need to tell exactly what fault codes you have and exactly what the message says word for word and which screen is is displayed on? - The MFD above the Navidrive or on the dashboard LCD? if possible. Also, what version of Diagbox are you using please?

[Yoshimura]

Hi Marc
Im using 9.12 version of Diagbox.
The message comes on the MFD screen above the Navi. It says " Vehicle fault. System cannot be operated".
Also there is fault for communication in BSI, but don't remember the description and no communication with the Navi unit. All power supply's and ground are checked and there is no problem with them.

BR

[GiveMeABreak]

It may be the NG4 unit itself then that is faulty.

Officially, they replaced the NG4 in production with a modified unit from build date 12912 (I don't have your VIN so cannot tell you the production date for your X7).

There is a procedure that can be done for the update error that you described previously when it gets stuck 0X3000 (slightly different way round to what you typed).

Carry out the procedure below 2 times:

• Eliminate the accessories (USB stick) and the Bluetooth pairing
• Disconnect the NG4 audio-navigation system
• Wait for 1 minutes
• Reconnect the NG4 audio-navigation system
• Start the vehicle
• Wait for 1 minutes
• Insert the software update USB

Warning: Never disconnect the cable between the multifunction screen and the NG4 when the Quad Lock connector is still attached to the NG4 - always remove the quadlock first, then the screen cable or it can render the unit inoperable.

[Yoshimura]

Hi Marc
Mine is 2009 model, so I have the old NG4 unit in my car.
About the update - I have installed it with success.

So it all seems that my unit may be faulty. The only option for repair is in Poland and the cost is around the price of a second hand unit in my country, but they are really hard to find...

BR

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, it's unfortunate, but these are generally far more reliable than the RT6 or the MyWay RNEG units that suffer from failed chips and corrupt internal flash memory. Very few issues on the RT4 (also a hard drive) and NG4 generally. Might be worth checking out the Autronics chap:

viewtopic.php?t=60781

I know some members here have sent their units to him for repair. Ignore Clarion - as they seem to be under contract to repair via dealer submission only...