Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but don’t bank on using your car on the day you update your Sat Nav SD card. With a new-ish laptop and 40MB broadband, it still took 6 Hours!
Thanks! Not much hope for me then, 1.0 mb usual -1.5mb on a good day with the wind behind it!
Don’t think i’ll bother updating mine either, I think the Nav is the worst thing on a very good car. The BOSE system is excellent.
The Garmin based Nav system built into my Suzuki Swift Sport Nav is so much more intuitive, quicker and easier to use. The voice based command system is also ultra reliable.
The file size to download is about 4GB.
The download service is notoriously ropey when new updates are released…
Once you learn how to use it I think it’s pretty reasonable, biggest downside is no ability to import routes, however I’ll put up with that to have it integrated rather than an extra thing stuck on the windscreen.
When you consider the variations of download speed that we experience it’s a pity that Mazda couldn’t arrange for their dealership to offer a service. They didn’t when I asked them last year and I don’t suppose anything has changed.
Because of my ridiculously slow download speed I haven’t managed to get a single update from new - 27/8/2015 - not impressed.
I believe if you raise a trouble ticket through the download service and get a case number you can take it to a Mazda dealer to install the update. Sure I saw that somewhere.
Thanks Ian, I’ll check it out!
Anybody know when the latest software update was released ?
I just leave the laptop set not to go to sleep on mains power, and download overnight while the internet is quieter. Even at only 4.5Mbits/s it manages 7GBytes of Garmin in about 4 hours while I’m asleep.
The Mazda satnav data file is smaller and should take less time, but it might be throttled at source if you try soon after a new release.
I always wait a month or so before installing these kinds of things, just in case there was a bug that only the end-users might spot, simply to let someone else trap and sort any problems, or hopefully give it the OK. (I used to have to produce release software for equipment updates against a deadline, and it was a nightmare checking it was bug free.)
My Santa Fe update has to be downloaded and installed by the dealer, it takes them over an hour, and the engine has to be running all the time!!
Doing the MX-5 was a doddle compared to that, just waiting for the next update.
Couldn’t agree more Richard, I guess the bottleneck is their server rather than the speed of your connection. I haven’t updated our Tomtom for a while, But I recall that was a pretty lengthy procedure too.
Just to elaborate a bit, our ND is a 2015 model but new to us. Also we purchased it from a local Ford dealer. I was just checking if the Sat Nav was current and found that an update was available. I have no idea if it was a recent update.
I also concur with Ian, after years of using a Tomtom I initially found the interface a bit challenging, but after a months experience I have no problem with it and I’ll happily continue using it. I still don’t understand why you can’t use the touch screen on the move, after all, you can with a Tomtom.
According to Mazda it’s a safety feature in order to prevent the driver from fiddling about and being distracted whilst driving. A warning message comes up on my screen when I switch on. I know that a passenger could use it OK but I suppose they think that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I’ve had my ND since 27/8/2015 and haven’t been able to do any updates, so how many have there been, and could they all be downloaded at once? Does anyone know? Thanks!
Looks like it’s back to using maps then gentlemen !
At least two updates since August 2016 when I bought my Mazda3 which uses the same MZD system and nav. I’ve not checked recently though.
You only need the latest version as it replaces the previous one entirely. Which is why the ‘Mazda Toolbox’ software insists you make a ‘just-in-case’ back-up of the SD card on the PC as part of the process, so you need a spare chunk of storage that big.
Just picked up a 2017 with one assumes the latest software update and our local speed camera has changed sides on the road so its now being picked up on the wrong side of the road so beware of the software update
I’ve just updated my MZD Navteq satnav chip.
I plugged in the chip (last updated in May) and the Mazda Toolbox said there was an update available, but no info on when it was released.
The file size was 7048MB and according to the various file timestamps on the PC, the download began at 11.02 and finished at 14.53. All the new files have dates and times for today.
It then took another hour to write the info in loads of tiny files and a few big ones to the slow 8GB SDHC Mazda chip, finishing at 15.56.
The 32GB chips I normally use in my cameras are much quicker for transfers, typically less than half an hour for a full ~30GB write and about ten minutes to read, admittedly fewer files typically 10MB or more.
PC is an i5 laptop running W7P
My previous version has dates for 26/05/2017 and before that it was 14/12/2016, but none of these file dates can be expected to correspond to the version dates…
My problem of being unable to download updates due to slow broadband speed is hopefully sorted!
Emailed Mazda over the weekend as IanH suggested. Got their reply (Mazda Europe) lunchtime, “contact your dealer, they should be able to help you”.
I have my ND booked in for its second annual service soon so I’ve just phoned the dealer and asked if the map updates could be done at the same time, their response “Yeah, no problem!”
Brilliant! Thanks Ian for the suggestion!
So if anyone else has a similar problem, contact your dealer!
PS: Mazda didn’t give me a case number and the dealer didn’t ask for one!
Today was the first annual service for my Mazda3, at Milcars in Watford, and while I waited (reading latest STHT, and then watching Escape to the Country, then sitting in a couple of RFs and a Mazda6) the dealer did the service (including valeting and finding a lost ID card and dropped coins from between the seats) quickly, but also took time to
a) Update the MZD system, about another half hour added for no charge.
The MZD system has gone from 56.00.100 EUN to 59.00.502 EUN, and Music Database from 00.05.00 to 00.07.00. I’ve noticed that it no longer sticks inside one album and is much more flexible on how it can be sequenced through the USB stick.
b) Look at the geometry to check on why it was tram-lining, about half an hour added but not charged.
Geometry was OK, spot on (apparently) and the helpful Service Manager said that he had the same car, but a few months younger and with Bridgestones on and no hint of tram-lining, and he knew exactly what I meant from driving other cars. He suggested changing away from the Toyo nano-energy tyres sooner rather than later; but at the mileage we do I expect it will be because of them ageing, and long before the tread wears out. But I might well take it to WIM for a second opinion.
All in all; nice efficient friendly people, clean premises, comfortable waiting place with big TV and coffee and water and papers etc. Just Main Dealer prices, but in this instance I think worth it.