I'm new here, and I wonder if you guys could help me. I just bought a 99 TL with Navigation. The system was working fine until like 5 minutes after I left the dealer. The screen went blank and then the following message appeared: "disc formatting error, see your dealer". I went back to the dealer and after MANY different tries unplugging cables, re-starting the car with the system unplugged, etc, the system seemed to be fine again. But the next day I had the same problem: I started the car, system worked for about 5 minutes, and then I got that same message on the screen again. Long story short: I took the car back to the dealer several times and the problem persists. Right now I only use tha screen for the AC controls. The dealer tells me there's a way to "reset" the unit and that that should do the trick. They are looking into that. But I was wondering if you guys knew how do this? Is there any way to "reset" the unit? Do you think that should fix the problem? If not, what do you think the problem could be? I could not think of anything else, because, like I said before, the system WAS working for a short period of time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would hate to have to take this car to an official Acura dealer and be charged an arm and a leg for some button-pushing that I'm sure doesn't require more than 5 minutes.

Thanks!

 

I have a 99TL w/ Navi and it's a Hard Disk based system. Open the trunk and you can see the Navi unit at the left top side. You can eject the disk , turn your key to on (wait until your navi screen says "no hd" or something) and then turn the key to off. Re-insert the disk again and this will reset the system. But I doubt if it has something to do with reseting the unit bec. you said it works for 5 mins. My best guess is the Hard Disk is defective. You can do a search here re: Compact Flash (CF) memory Card. This is what I use right now bec. I bought my 99TL used and it doesn't have an HD. The CF card IMO is much better than the OEM because it doesn't have moving parts so it means it can handle shocks and vibrations. You need a 512MB CF Memory Card and PCMCIA CF Adapter. You can go to Fry's or your local electronic store to get these. The CF card is about $40 and the adapter you can but it for less than $10. Then you need to contact your local dealer if they still have the program to install the navi software in your area (region). I got navi software for free thru my local dealer. More info :

http://www.navhelp.com/

 

For other options Click ------> Here

 

Wow, thanks a lot! Plenty of info on that link. This part is particularly interesting:

"I've seen drives fail at times and work at others. This is typical of any hard drive failure. I get more e-mails in the hot months and from people with cars in hot Southern states."

In live in South Florida, and it's like 95 degrees right now! That's probably it.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Ok, I just read a lot of old discussions on this very same subject, and I believe the best option for me would be to install a new DVD-based system. Anyone here has any idea how much I should be looking at? If it's less than $400 I would consider it (since it would also give me coverage in the whole country plus an updated database), if not, I will try progz's alternative. Thanks so much!

 

The DVD based is a plug and play (no extra wiring/connector or anything). Just take out the HD based and plug in the DVD based. Check eBay listing and they are selling it at ~$200. The DVD disk is extra (some sell them at $100) but it covers the entire country (good if you like to travel). I don't travel that much so Region 1 (CA/NV) is enough for me. So to me $45 of CF card and adapter is enough BTW....I have these CF for 3 months already and recalc time is ok. I read from some threads that the recalc time from a CF is faster than the HD. Do a search, you might find it. Good luck and keep us posted

 

I got the compact flash and pcmcia adapter, dealer programmed it, the map works but it won't calculate route and take in new address. Anything i need to do to jump start this, or whether it should work right away after the programming. Any help is appreciated. Tks!

 

best idea...I did the same thing. Got my system off Ebay and the disk off a guy off this site. very good upgrade. Dont even mess with the CF card - get the new DVD system and the newest version of the DVD is 2.20