After market Navigation

Give M&D a call about the nav error.

Even if you made a back-up it wouldn't work because they put a code on the SD card. I tried transferring the files to a faster SD card and it couldn't read it.

 

I would plug the SD card into a PC and run Spinrite, a hard disk data recovery and maintenance program that is superb. If you don't have it (I think it is about $80), at least run chkdsk on a windows system or fsck on a linux system. The card most likely uses a FAT32 file system, which is not terribly stable and can be corrupted pretty easily. You have inspired me. I MUST backup my SD card! Also, if you haven't done it, at least reseat the card in the unit.

 

I contacted m&d. They sent me the instruction below to try it first. If I does not work, I need to call warranty dept. I will give it a try this evening.

 

Everytime after my car is on for about 30seconds- 2 minutes, my radio on M&D stops for about 2 seconds, and plays again without any problem.This happens every time I start my car. Does any one has this same problem?
It's not huge a problem as of now but I feel like one day it will have this same glitch and never come back again.

 

Mine does the same. Think it's normal.

SPH-L900 ? 2

 

Makes me feel good to know I am not the only one

 

Same thing here. As Xcuter stated, I think that is normal for our M&D unit .

 

Theredbull, how did it go w/ the flash instructions? I tried it about 4-5 times w/ no success . Even though it didn't work thanks for the info.

 

I tried and it did not work. I called and talked to tech supports again. They said SD card was the cause of navi error. I need to send in the SD card. They will charge me 35 dollars to diagnose the files in SD card ( wow). I will never buy any device from m&d again. .

 

Sorry to hear about that, both the fact it's not working & they're charging u. Yea, I've dealt w/ customer service & tech support at M&D also & have concluded that they are not the friendliest nor do they have our best interest at heart.

 

Does anyone have the iPod cable for this unit? Post pics of what the display looks like with iPod connected.

 

Last night I backed up the files on the SD card from the M&D unit. I figured that if any of them became corrupted, I could easily restore them rather than having to deal with M&D's "contact the seller" model of problem solving. Interestingly, as soon as I attempted to copy the autorun.inf file, Sophos antivirus intercepted the copy and said it was the W32/AutoRun-BXD Windows worm. It came from the factory this way. Good thing I was using a Mac. I left it on the SD card in case it was a false positive, but if you place the SD card into your machine and you are running windows, use caution.

 

It's shown on page 38 of he online instruction manual. It shortens all artist names and song titles to 13 letters. If you rate the iPod functionality a 10, I'd give the interface a rating of 4. It's not perfect but I use it frequently. Searching for albums or songs is tedious so I use it on random a lot.

 

My navigation unit also generated an execution exception error and ceased to function during a trip this week. I found that the filesystem on the SD card had some cross linked sectors. I backed up the files (I did not have an earlier backup with me - more on that later), and repaired the filesystem. The GPS program then functioned again for awhile until the error reoccured while traveling home. When I got home, I again found errors. This time, I reformatted the the card and restored the files from an older backup I made last year, figuring that the gogo.exe file or some library it was dependent on was corrupted. This seems to have fixed the problem. My conclusion is that the basic issue is that the programming code and associated files reside on an SD card using the FAT32 file system. FAT32 is known to be unstable, which is why it was succeeded by NTFS. Those of you who have not backed up your SD card, I urge you to do it as soon as possible. Then, when one or more files become corrupted (not if, but when), fixing the problem is trivial. Otherwise you will have a problem that will be difficult to resolve.

Also, I have seen SD cards fail completely. If you have a backup, you can just get a new one, copy the files, and you are back in business.

 

OK, I read all the 14 pages and not sure if the SD card corruption affects bluetooth or navi or both.

If this is only software issue, it would be tempted.
However, ebay price went up to $375 (different seller).

 

To bubbatech; I'm going to back up my SD card now even though my PC thinks there's a virus on the card. Thanks for the tip.
To friendly_jacek: The SD card is not part of Bluetooth. I wish it was because that way, we could add our entire address book to it. As it is, the interface only saves the last several numbers dialed or calls you have received. That means if you want to make a call and that person was not one you recently called or called you, you will have to enter it manually. About your question to me concerning if the M&D is a good value...at the price of $300, it was a very good deal if all you want is the basics. NAV seems to work well enough even though "Susan" the voice will murder Spanish street names! Just look at the visual prompts and you will get how make turns. If satellite data is weak, she sometimes "stutters" but you can do a system reboot of NAV from the main panel which resolves it. It took some getting used to the MP3 interface with data CDs, but it works fine once you get the hang of it. With my OEM speakers, I think the system sounds better that the original player that comes on a Prius II. My only gripe is the buttons are dim during night driving and even after several calls to their tech support, they can not be brought up on intensity. If you like your dash buttons dim anyway, it should not matter. The interface with the steering wheel trac tracer (left button) works fine too.

 

I see. Thanks for the explanation. Too many people here had problems with blue tooth. If that's hardware and not software issue, I'll pass.

 

I looked it up and no one is selling this anymore. I guess Windows CE is dead.

 

My M&D has been working fine for the past year. Several little gripes with it, but hard to beat the value. I use my iPhone for Nav, the times I've tried the M&D it hasn't worked very well, crazy route, wrong route etc.

I use mine mostly for the backup camera screen, Sirius, iPod interface, and AM/FM.

 

I had to learn some of the subtle settings on the NAV too. There's a subpanel for "fastest way" and "shortest distance". Shortest distance can take you thru neighborhood streets so it might not be good on an average route. But fastest way can take you out of your way to get on a freeway and might actually be longer in miles, but shorter in time. It's a crapshoot. +1 to the backup camera interface, but to those considering an M&D, the camera and cables are a separate purchase and a real PIA to install.