2013 981 satnav maps

[BrianJ]

I've ordered 6.7.1 from SatNaviShop today. I'll report my experience.

[BrianJ]

I successfully upgraded my maps to 2022 (V6.7.1) today. Overall a very straightforward, error-free process (unlike the two times in the last 8 years I tried via OPCs). The complete upgrade took 1h 20mins from start to finish.

Prior to ordering I checked that my PCM3.1 DVD drive actually worked by inserting a disc, playing some music and ejecting the disc. I also checked that the USB slot in the glovebox worked. I ordered from SatNaviShop on May 4. Later that day I had an email from David asking for a photo of the system screen you get by pressing "Source + Info" together, plus a photo of my VIN, which I supplied by return. I also asked him if he could email me the instructions so I knew up front what was involved, which he did. The instructions were brief and straightforward, but not having done it before, some additional information about the process would have been useful, some of which I include in the following.

I received the pack by first class, "Signed For" Royal Mail this morning. They were posted in Nottingham. The pack consists of a software DVD, a USB stick and 5 numbered map DVDs. You are advised to leave the engine running throughout the process to prevent the PCM shutting down during the upgrade. I then inserted the Software DVD which took a few minutes to load, then self-ejected (all the DVDs self-eject when loaded, this is not mentioned in the instructions). Next insert the USB stick and wait a couple of minutes before removing it, then press "Info" for 10 seconds to reboot the PCM. Then load the map DVDs in order. Each one took about 10 mins to load before asking you to insert the next. Slightly disconcerting when loading the next, the PCM initially tells you it is reading the previous one for a few seconds before recognising the new number. Each map DVD said "Disc 1 of 5" etc until it got to disc 5, when it said "Disc 5 of 4", presumably a numbering oversight from when there used to be 4. At the end the system rebooted and confirmed V6.7.1 installed. On startup the maps took longer than usual to load then told me I was in the middle of Sweden - soon sorted when I moved out of my garage and my location was correctly established. 

The maps look reasonably up to date (yes, the A555 to Manchester Airport now appears to exist in its entirety). Obviously they won't be like Google Maps or Waze but I am very happy to have a method of getting the latest maps without the hassle, time and cost of travelling to an OPC.  

[Greenman]

Thanks for the update Brian.

A query on the software version (not map version), you say you did update this via the DVD, what version were you on before and what version are you on now?

[BrianJ]

Hi Greenman, I was on V4.76 before and still on the same when finished. I have always understood that this is the latest/last for PCM3.1 The satnavishop.co.uk description says their package includes "DVD firmware update (if necessary)" - it might be worth asking exactly what this means if the PCM is earlier than 4.76. I am not quite clear what the "software" DVD does - I am presuming it installs the map update capability and ties in the activation code supplied on the USB. I guess Richard Hamilton will probably know that answer to that as the process appears to replicate the "official" process without the need for PIWIS (and without OPC c*ck-ups).     

[Greenman]

Yes I also believe 4.76 is the latest. I am also on this version so was just checking he is not shipping an earlier version.  As I stated previously, when I did this back in 2018 it was 4.73 that was shipped so you had to be careful to not downgrade if already on 4.76, hence I bypassed the software load step.  I’m assume here that you could also have bypassed that step, though if same version it should make no difference either way.

[Ringer250]

I have also updated to the 2022 maps. Exactly the same process as described by @BrianJ including the disc count error on no 5. My software version was 4.73 now 4.76. Only thing I did differently was to plug the ctek charger in instead of keeping the engine running. Ctek did get a bit warm but not too hot.

[Stuno1]

I am undecided about this. I have always used car built in satnavs. Since Apple bought TomTom I have always used Apple maps. It now also (like ways) warns of speed cameras and notified accidents or issues with roads as well as allowing users tolog identified issues. 


Bluetooth integration as well I can play through the car and play music through my phone into the car. 

[Menoporsche]

18 minutes ago, Stuno1 said:

I am undecided about this. I have always used car built in satnavs

It’s your £130. Spend it on this or elsewhere. 

[Jon61]

40 minutes ago, Ringer250 said:

Only thing I did differently was to plug the ctek charger in instead of keeping the engine running. Ctek did get a bit warm but not too hot.

Do you mean that you also had the ignition on but the engine not running, Steve? Or does just plugging in the Ctek stop the PCM from shutting down? In which case, is that connected to the lighter socket or to the battery connection points under the bonnet?

[Stuno1]

9 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

It’s your £130. Spend it on this or elsewhere. 

I appreciate that, just not sure if I am missing a trick. 

[Ringer250]

24 minutes ago, Jon61 said:

Do you mean that you also had the ignition on but the engine not running, Steve? Or does just plugging in the Ctek stop the PCM from shutting down? In which case, is that connected to the lighter socket or to the battery connection points under the bonnet?

Jon, Just plugged in the ctek to the lighter socket which kept PCM from shutting down. No ignition on. This was mentioned as a tip by someone in the original 2018 map upgrade when getting the DVDs from the ebay guy. 

[BrianJ]

11 minutes ago, Ringer250 said:

Jon, Just plugged in the ctek to the lighter socket which kept PCM from shutting down. No ignition on. This was mentioned as a tip by someone in the original 2018 map upgrade when getting the DVDs from the ebay guy. 

That's interesting. I didn't do that because in my 2016 981 all the charging ports shut down after about 10 mins when the CTEK is active - this didn't happen in my previous 2013 981. I was keen to get the map upgrade done without suffering any unforeseen issues, particularly as the previous attempt by an OPC had failed with an error after an hour or so for a reason that they couldn't explain (and didn't even notice that it hadn't worked) . So I took what I thought would be the least risky route.  

[Ringer250]

8 hours ago, BrianJ said:

That's interesting. I didn't do that because in my 2016 981 all the charging ports shut down after about 10 mins when the CTEK is active - this didn't happen in my previous 2013 981. I was keen to get the map upgrade done without suffering any unforeseen issues, particularly as the previous attempt by an OPC had failed with an error after an hour or so for a reason that they couldn't explain (and didn't even notice that it hadn't worked) . So I took what I thought would be the least risky route.  

There have been numerous discussions both on BoXa.net and Porsche Club GB forum regarding connecting the CTek unit depending on the year of the 981. The trick was to ensure connection within the 10 minute period the standard supplied sockets are live after ignition switch off.
I have a 2014 model with the optional smokers pack which provides an extra socket where the standard open tray resides just ahead of the armrest. This has always worked even leaving the car overnight then opening the door and just plugging in the Ctek. There are reports that the 718 standard sockets also worked OK with ctek, so still not sure why Porsche appeared to have changed the operation on the later 981.

[BrianJ]

2 hours ago, Ringer250 said:

There have been numerous discussions both on BoXa.net and Porsche Club GB forum regarding connecting the CTek unit depending on the year of the 981. The trick was to ensure connection within the 10 minute period the standard supplied sockets are live after ignition switch off.
I have a 2014 model with the optional smokers pack which provides an extra socket where the standard open tray resides just ahead of the armrest. This has always worked even leaving the car overnight then opening the door and just plugging in the Ctek. There are reports that the 718 standard sockets also worked OK with ctek, so still not sure why Porsche appeared to have changed the operation on the later 981.

I always thought people who couldn't get their CTEKs to work on 981s were doing something wrong, until I bought my 2016 car. I've assiduously tried all three sockets as you describe; none of them will stay working. I never had a problem with my 2013 car. I know of one person with a 2016 car whose OPC changed the behaviour of the footwell socket to stay live but I don't know how this was done. My own suspicion is that the socket behaviour is configurable somewhere and that the software build of 2016 cars has them configured to switch off and earlier cars don't, but that's a guess. In my case I bought a £9 CTEK fused connector to put across the battery and body which solved the charging problem and was probably a lot less costly than trying to get an OPC to investigate how to change anything!

Having had an expensively-repaired PCM failure on my 2013 car and heard a few stories about failures involving DVDs stuck in the drive, I decided that ANY glitch was likely to cost a lot more than a couple of hours of idling petrol and went that route for the map update. I'm happy with my decision but interested to know that some people have an alternative.  

[Greenman]

Humm..  I’m sure I didn’t run the engine when I did my 2015 a few years back.  I think I connected the ctek, but not in the 12v socket (as I don’t have that connector). I just connected it across the battery (plus terminal and engine ground). I think this has the same effect of keeping things active, or maybe it’s the opening and closing of doors that keeps resetting it?  I know mine goes for 30 mins before closing down. I may have to experiment.

[barryp]

I leave my 2016 981 on a CTEK every year when I leave the UK for 6/7 months plugged into footwell.

when I updated maps I used the PCM disc prior and that software version did not change. 

[BrianJ]

Now I've upgraded successfully I may experiment with the CTEK connected across the battery/body to see if the PCM switches off or not. By the time the next map upgrade is published (if ever) I will have probably forgotten the result.  

[nickverwood]

Interesting topic.

I also purchased the discs from this guy after a bungled attempt at a fix for my constantly rebooting PCR by another eBay seller (fixed the rebooting and got me on to 4.76 software but Satnav wouldn’t load as clearly the vehicle coding was over ridden.)
 

I only needed the usb coding to get the maps operational again so did not want to risk loading the map discs as I already had a more modern version than I did originally.

So, in brief, I can vouch for the guy as well.

However, is there any way to tell what map version is loaded? I know how to see the software version, but can’t see anywhere the map version.

 

 

[iborguk]

8 minutes ago, nickverwood said:

 

However, is there any way to tell what map version is loaded? I know how to see the software version, but can’t see anywhere the map version.

 

 

The PCM update history screen will show this, the files listed there will have the version number tagged in them. 6.71 is the  2022 map version. Press the source & info buttons on the PCM and check out the history tab.

Edited May 13, 2022 by iborguk

[Greenman]

Just ordered from above shop, I’ll let you know how things go.  It appears I am on 4.75 software not 4.76, so I guess that I’ll also be applying that update.

[Buzzfox]

On 5/13/2022 at 1:38 PM, iborguk said:

The PCM update history screen will show this, the files listed there will have the version number tagged in them. 6.71 is the  2022 map version. Press the source & info buttons on the PCM and check out the history tab.

The History screen on mine shows 6.5.1 PCM31_ECE_N217_1806_PS

Does that mean I'm on 6.51 and therefore 2 versions behind the latest?

Very tempted by this.

[iborguk]

Just now, Buzzfox said:

The History screen on mine shows 6.5.1 PCM31_ECE_N217_1806_PS

Does that mean I'm on 6.51 and therefore 2 versions behind the latest?

Very tempted by this.

6.51 = 2018 maps

[Kevin G]

I’ve been following this with interest. I’ve had my 2014 981 from new and the maps have never been updated which has never been a problem until recently trying to find my way around Gloucester City! I now want to update my system.

The information screen shows PCM 3.1 V4.63 and the history screen reports “No version history available”.  I assume V4.63 is the 2014 version and the history confirms no updates. So, I’m woefully behind the 2022 version.
 

I’ve emailed SatNaviShop with my info and hopefully will receive confirmation their updates will work for me,

[iborguk]

22 minutes ago, Kevin G said:

I’ve been following this with interest. I’ve had my 2014 981 from new and the maps have never been updated which has never been a problem until recently trying to find my way around Gloucester City! I now want to update my system.

The information screen shows PCM 3.1 V4.63 and the history screen reports “No version history available”.  I assume V4.63 is the 2014 version and the history confirms no updates. So, I’m woefully behind the 2022 version.
 

I’ve emailed SatNaviShop with my info and hopefully will receive confirmation their updates will work for me,

V4.63 will refer to the firmware of the PCM rather than the map version. I think 4.76 is the latest firmware version.

If you have nothing in the update history then you'll have whatever maps it shipped with from the original supplying dealer.

Edited May 15, 2022 by iborguk

[BrianJ]

22 minutes ago, iborguk said:

If you have nothing in the update history then you'll have whatever maps it shipped with from the original supplying dealer.

Possibly, or possibly not. My 2013 car did not have a history tab, even though it was on software V4.76. So even though the maps had been upgraded, there was nowhere anybody could look to find what version was installed. My 2016 car does have a history tab.