Am now getting the Disc Read Error on my (original owner) '06 TL - I might try the take unit out to clean the lens, but.... the results seemed mixed?

Just so everyone is aware, the official Alpine Phone number is 1-800-421-2284.

If you search, there are a few other numbers floating around, but they point to other companies, like "United Radio". If you ship to them, they will "diagnose for free" and tell you "how much to fix". Woof...

And, the real kicker, per a phone call today to the official Alpine folks, Alpine is no longer servicing any '06 units.

What the CS rep said is they will only service '08 units and newer. ??? He said "they can't get parts anymore".

I thought the DVD H/W change was between '06 and '07?

Didn't make much sense to me, but, for '06 and older folks, "apparently", shipping the unit to Alpine is no longer an option?

Cheers..

 

That sucks. I came on here to see if anybody had recently tried to get there Navi repaired. My 06 Navi is sometimes working and sometimes not. Right now it's in it's sometimes I'll boot loop and sometimes I'll reinstall software and then work for an hour mode.

​​​​​Looks like trying to find something to replace the head unit is the only option now unless one wants to take a risk on a used DVD head unit. I've seen people do the Android replacement things from AliExpress but not sure I want to go that route. Need to spend some time digging in to see what other people have done and if there's any decent options for us on our cars. I've owned mine since brand new so it sucks seeing it go downhill.

 

As a follow up...

I didn't relish the idea of taking the Navi unit out of the car and taking it apart, so...

This is all more "causation" versus "correlation", so, a grain of salt, yes...

I took out the Navi disc for maybe a week or so? Point is, multiple cycles of the system without a disc.

I also purchased an "Endust 262000" CD/DVD/BLU-RAY lens cleaner disc.

With the vehicle in the key on mode (so, accessory mode...), and not actually running...

The error on the screen said Door open or disc read error... (as there was no Navi disc)

I inserted the cleaning disc, and closed the door. The system recognized a new disc, cycled and then gave an expected invalid disc error.

I opened the slide door and ejected the cleaning disc.

Then re-inserted the cleaning disc, and closed the slide door. Same expected result.

I am assuming that while the disc didn't run a full "cleaning program" per design on most devices, it at least ran the brushes once or twice over the lens head while the drive tried to recognize the disc?

I then removed the cleaning disc and inserted the original Navi disc (which had next to no scratches).

The system then recognized the Navi disc and booted up! And it's been fine since. My disc is the newest (last) version and no scratches. Did not having a disc in help? Did the disc cleaner help? Not sure, but...

Just some observations and data that might help some, but maybe not all... (broken/ stuck arm?)

 

I took mine apart some time back and cleaned the lens manually. That has allowed it to work some of the time. Actually had about a 2 month span recently where it was about perfect but now it's back to acting up. Hasn't yet gone to a permanent boot loop but has gotten close. Usually have to put in the navi code anywhere from a couple times a day to only a few times in a week. Never tried a cleaning disc.