KenRLX

I just updated the NAV system with the 2015 purchased 'brown DVD' map/navigation system update.
It takes an HOUR (or a bit more) to do so, and the engine MUST be running and the car stationary.. which seems an unusual process that includes several full system reboots along the way.
But the map scrolling is much better - the herky jerky map movement across the screen is now smooth as it was on the RL. There seems to be more info on the map now such as highlighted roads, etc.


I am curious if anyone else has done the update and what you find new/better/worse with the update.

pgeorg

I updated my 2014 MDX with the same 2015 Brown DVD, but did not notice much difference. The system on the MDX was working pretty well from the beginning though...
They do not have an update for my 2015 RLX yet......

George Knighton

Ever since they've been using this basic NAV system, it has been like that.

I remember looking out the door a few times to be sure nobody'd driven off with my 2010 TL when it was doing a map update. :-)

pgeorg

:-). I just leave it on accessory mode and take the key with me. I am not a fan of letting the car idling for so long.....

George Knighton

I'll buy the update that comes out this coming autumn. From 10/14, the update that became available mightn't have as many road updates as the one coming out in a few months.

pgeorg

I believe they skipped last autumn's release for the 2014 RLX and 2014 MDX. For the MDX they released it in April, and for the RLX now. So i doubt they will release another update in September - October, like they used to. I could be wrong though.....

jpadilla

i still always use my google maps on my galaxy. i would have thought by now they would be capable of using maps off of your phone like pandora. dvd-based nav's are lame when a phone get be updated maps w/o an upgrade.

Malibu Flyer

you are so right......CD updates are really yesterday's technology and not what Acura, the company known for its cutting edge technology, should be doing. I have suggested to the Acura folks that our cars should be able to receive automatic software updates over the air. My hope is this will be part of the MMC for the 2017s RLXs. I think they need to upgrade the car's hardware some to accomplish this.

A further suggestion for Acura would be to make nav updates part of the AcuraLink package. Perhaps it would be appropriate for the Connect package [if memory serves me right what the mid-level package is called] to include "free" nav updates as one of the services you get.

I finally got around to signing up for AcuraLink. I had never used it and assumed i was connected. I discovered it had never been turned on so i am now on the 90 day free trial which includes the Concierge package. I doubt i will pay for Concierge level but I am open to the mid-level package. I'll just have to see how much I use it and what the service is like.

holografique

Ken...by chance did they fix the low visibility traffic indication color on the map view?

George Knighton

I'd be interested in knowing that, too. If this is the same kind of update that we were getting for the 4G TL, it's just updates of maps and indices, not really operational improvements.

But...the capability is there, so this would be a good thing to know.

I think I'll go ahead and get it.... More for lack of anything else automotive to do at the moment.

Malibu Flyer

Inquiring minds [at least mine] want to know also. I'd be surprised if it does anything for traffic visibility but there is always hope.

It would certainly help me justify purchasing a new Nav disc if it did. Otherwise my inclination is to wait a little longer. Not much new "data" for where I generally drive so a new disc has only modest value for me otherwise.

fsmith

KenRLX - Do you mean that the map now scrolls smoothly even while you are driving after the NAV update? Scrolling while the car is stopped has not been a problem for me.

George Knighton

There's a reference in the literature to taking FIVE hours (!!) to update other things after the map is updated.

Anybody know what are those things?

George Knighton

Still confused about the five hour background update that is taking place after the 1 hour long main NAV update.

Do you just leave the CD in there while you go about your life, or is the ROM uploaded to a special RAM position for gradual execution and you take out the CD?

My fear is that the CD will start the process over if it's not supposed to be left in the car!

Maybe I'll be told at the end of the main update to remove the CD, and that'll solve the problem for me.

George Knighton

Should've read the instructions all the way through.

Yes, you eject the CD at the end of the map update.

You won't be signaled to remove the CD until the ROM flash is moved completely to a RAM location for gradual execution, which they say takes five continuous hours.

It's possible that the people who've already done this have not had the car running for a total of five hours to see whatever the firmware update gives us, although I remember one person saying that he has seen new menu items in Settings.

Here's to hoping they've optimized the code a tiny bit.

:-)

pgeorg

I ordered the same Brown DVD update disk a couple of months ago, but for my 2014 MDX. The way it worked for me was: I turned the car to accessory mode, put in the DVD, entered the activation code when it asked me to, and then let it go for about an hour. When it was done (message on screen asked me to move the car to an open area so it can receive the GPS signal), then i took the DVD out, and shut off the car. Later that day i took the MDX for a ride, and noticed a little icon on the top screen of a hard drive and a percentage. When it went to 100% after a few hours, it disappeared. I believe what is was doing was refreshing the new map data, but i am not sure about that.
I also had to re-pair my phone.......

HTH

pgeorg

I guess my answer was not needed:-)

woropallo

Did you notice any of the features or visual changed, or was it just the data?

pgeorg

Except for one menu addition - Using ETC (toll roads) roads for routing - I did not notice anything else change visually. Everything stayed the same, including the traffic info lines (red, green, yellow thin lines).

George Knighton

As you're using the car after removing the CD, there's a little progress indicator giving you the percentage of completion for the ROM flash.

..

Malibu Flyer

Be sure to let us know what you find after the update completes. I am not hoping for much but perhaps I will be surprised.

George Knighton

After two days, I'm still only at 83% complete, so I don't know everything.

An annoying thing, unfortunately, is that many settings are set to default. The audio pre-select have remained; however, all of the Shortcut menu have reset to zero. So if you've spent time deciding carefully what should be in your six or so Shortcut menus, you'd better make a note of it before you start this because they're going away.

A good thing: When you have to put the car in reverse very quickly, before the NAV map shows up, the grid lines show up immediately now. It has always slightly annoyed me that if you put it in reverse before the system had completely loaded that the camera would come on without the grid lines. Now the grid lines are loaded immediately, and for me, at least, that is a very nice positive thing.

George Knighton

Another good thing is that they've evidently figured out a way to slowly flash the system so that there's no hard re-start required at any time after you've loaded the CD and the map part of the update.

Unless, that is, I suddenly discover while driving today that I lose both screens when it hits 100%, but I don't think that's going to happen, based on what I've seen so far.

fsmith

Geiorge - Please let us know if the update does anything about the terrible scrolling problem while the car is moving. For that, I will go for the update!

George Knighton

The scrolling is quite smooth, even when scrolling diagonally.

You cannot scroll across the country, however. After about two seconds, it stops and draws a line to where you are at the present.

Finished 100% but I don't really have time to poke around.

It's generally *seeming* slightly snappier, but I don't know if that's psychological, having spent $100.00 to find out what it does.

:-)

pgeorg

I did not see any difference after the update on my MDX.

fsmith

George - Are you saying that it scrolls smoothly while the car is moving? That's a huge improvement! I would pay $100 for that. In fact, if you confirm that it fixes this probem while the car is underway I will order it in the following 10 miliseconds. Thanks.

George Knighton

Yes, it scrolls smoothly while *my* car is moving. :-)

I don't know if there are differences in hardware associated with build dates, so your mileage may vary, but in my car built in January 2014 it is completely smooth while the car is moving.

It only allows a scroll for about two seconds, though, regardless of what's the scale of the map. It does the same thing at 1 Mile that it does at ⅛ Mile.

It stops after about 2s and shows you the crosshatch location of where you've stopped, with a straight red line drawn to where you are located at the moment.

George Knighton

Where do you have your Galaxy mounted in your RLX?

The Legend's NAV system is much faster and better than what you are probably remembering as DVD-based [sic].

But it's very possible that you will have an option in future Honda models to save some money on the car by eliminating parts of the infotainment system, and the big screens will mimic what is on your iPhone or Android instead of showing the Honda-specific infotainment system.

I do not stream music most of the time, but it is an important enough part of the overall experience, maybe 15%, that I can very well imagine that we'd just totally forget about satellite radio and broadcast radio, and have an option to just stream Pandora, Apple Music, Aha/Slacker, or whatever.

Bluetooth streaming is so good now that I don't think that most people would miss the quality of FM HD or iPod all that much. But having an iPod USB connection for a high quality audio system is so cheap that we'd probably continue to have that for the foreseeable future.

The dual-screen functionality of iOS 9 was coded with a view toward being able to do this on dual-screen cars like the current generation of Acura and Honda vehicles. Just as we have now, you'd be able to have Apple Maps running on the top screen, and your music running on the bottom screen, but both screens could be fed by your iOS 9 device.

It would not work with older iOS because Apple has always felt that dual-view multi-tasking was battery draining nonsense in smaller devices.

It's only because they foresee this future functionality that they gave way and have fully functional dual-screen multi-tasking with iOS 9.

fsmith

Thanks, George. Sorry to press, but I'm still a bit uncertain about what has changed with the NAV update. The problem I have now is that when the car is moving, and I run into traffic and want to look at the map to see if there is a nearby road I can detour to, it is currently impossible to scroll the map with any precision. For instance, I cannot place the center cursor over a road that is an inch away on the map; the cursor just goes flying across the map when I try to move it just a bit. Has the update restored the ability to scroll the map with some precision, albeit for only two seconds at a time?

George Knighton

I just settled down somewhere after a drive, and I tested it several different times on the way over here.

It's precise and smooth, and I would not have any trouble doing what you are asking about.

fsmith

^^^ Fantastic, thanks. That has been one of the very few things that has bothered me about this terrific car. I'll order the NAV update.

George Knighton

Bon chance.

:-)

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I have the same experiences.

fsmith

Ha! Are you suggesting that I will need luck to make this work?

neuronbob

I guess it's time for me to take the chance. I'll pay up. I'm disappointed that Acura can't/won't update the other software (touchscreen, etc) in our 2014s outside of the maps. I'd like similar functionality to the (less expensive) TLX, thank you.

George Knighton

It's just a little annoying, especially losing the Shortcuts.

The Shortcuts menu is one of the big advantages of the 8+7 dual screen infotainment system, and to lose them without warning is something that I hope they will not do with any following update.

It's not a deal killer. Just kind of annoying, and a surprise that nobody considered that we need a big red letter caution about that.

George Knighton

I haven't had time to just sit in the car and play with it yet.

When I have to drive later today, I'll try to poke around a bit.

fsmith

Thanks, George, for being early and helping the rest of us on this. I'm getting the CMBS update on Tueday, and I may be first in this forum to do so. Hopefully I will have nothing to report!

getakey

If it takes hours to update, just shows how slow a processor they put in the Navi.
Very bad design