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Recently I revisited the thread hacking the navi for the 3G TL. As always I was heartbroken because while I love the fact that it exists for them I replaced my 3G with a 4G before having a chance to do that oh-so-tasty bit of cracking!
Lo and behold, that same night I see a post from someone saying they have hacked the 1G TLX!!! And when I say 1G I mean it was a 2009, the first year of the 4G TLs! (Correct me if im wrong on that or anything else please. Error is how we all learn)
so the thought process is pretty simple if someone can hack the 2009 TLX there should be no reason why we can't take that same bit of learning and apply it towards this project. By definition Acura would have used the same basic components with the TLX computer system as the TL. There may be some basic differences if someone already knows what these are please let me know so it'll speed up my own learning process.
my first step was to look at the process that had been used to crack the 3G. This of course involve using a custom loaded navigation disc where the bin files have been altered. If memory serves the post that I saw for the TLX set up the same thing. However when going into my menu and checking my version it appears that the navigation while it might come to you on a disc is actually flashed to the hard drive itself. The reason I believe this it's because my menu does not show the typical readout for version but instead give me an indication of being flashed memory.
this brings me to my first step which involves a little bit of help from my friends cue The Wonder Years theme song! What I need is someone who has an old disc of the 2019 or maybe even 2018 navigation update for the 4G TL. I have been led to believe that this is a yearly thing and is in fact stopping with the 2021 disc. Now the great part is if someone does have that disc I don't actually need the physical copy. If you don't know how I can walk you through ripping the ISO from the desk and sending it to me that way from there I will attempt to start to edit the bin files much in the way they've been edited in other successful attempts. I'm also prepared to pull my hard drive in order to see if a Brute Force attack could potentially allow access to existing files on set hard drive and edit them from there
and I hear the detractors now saying why don't you just get that cool $750 Standalone that lets you have Android auto and YouTube and blah blah blah that's cool send me a check and I'll be more than happy to buy that in the meantime our car has been out for this long and we have still not achieved something that's so many of us have wanted since we got the car! So it's time.
if anybody wants to assist I welcome the help because one guy with python had a dream might not be enough if I get enough people interested then I will start a GitHub and we will get this thing done! So are you ready? Are you excited? Have your eyes crossed yet from reading so much have you fallen asleep from reading so much in one sitting?!?!?
Are you even still awake?
Bring It On in the comments guys I want the good, the bad, the ugly.... hell I'll even take a disgruntled Dodge owner that just wants to troll but tell me everything that you guys know even if it's just rumor and speculation, lets all compare notes and see what we know and what gaps in knowledge need to be filled because as I said...
I have attempted to answer about 4 different times now but the website is not playing nice with me so quick update on start things off. I was provided with the 2021 navigation update DVDs by @echodigital HUGE shout out to him because this is the first step and what I hope ends up being something awesome!
@justnspace you are correct. There was a lot of text in my original post you're also correct that there was a need for more specificity however I tend to become a bit verbose when excited about something and this is worth getting excited over. The things I need are as follows:
1. current dvds for navigation . (Provided by Echodigital)
2. Any stories of anyone here on the forUm who has tried to hack the navigation system whether you have succeeded partially succeeded failed it doesn't matter I don't care if you give me the story of Jimmy's cousins brother who works for Acura as long as you can provide some sort of empirical evidence to back it up that way I don't waste my time going down rabbit holes that have already been pursued
3. Any member experience with actually pulling the hard drive and trying to access the files therein
4. Any tools such as a bin compiler that will allow me to easily access and then edit any potential bin files that I find on the DVD (I believe I have a lead on this)
5. The contact information of any forum members who may have experience with coding and or programming and who knows what GitHub is and how to use it
@Riboflavin the original appeal of this hack was to get rid of the nag screen. This remains a primary draw if I'm honest however once you have access the potential is Limitless you can have custom boot screens which is something that the guy who did the original 3G hack was able to do if memory serves.
And not to get anybody's hopes too high if I'm able to successfully decode and modify the bin files then you could potentially be looking at things like a custom GUI, constant access to backup cam, the disabling of the safety measures that prevent you from using certain things while in motion ( although I believe this is also easily achieved by disconnecting a couple of wires and changing your ground)
one of the Holy Grail things and a main focus for me is going to be accessing the navigation screen and allowing it to play video much like that $750 add-on from whatever company it is.
I also have a special request from Echodigital to try and find a way to modify the Maps and, being as he is the first person to actually contribute to the project, you better believe I'm going try my best and make that happen!
the pulling of the hard drive itself is more to investigate the potential architecture of the underlying programming within the TL. But you are correct in assuming that getting into the hard drive could potentially lead to the ability of uploading things that the TL doesn't normally want to play nice with
hope that answers your questions but be prepared if you have an aversion to having to read then this thread might not be for you. The simple fact is but there's a lot of information and a lot of things that need to be discussed and discovered before we have any chance of doing this. Assuming the site will allow me to post this finally I will be providing a small update in my next post
someone let me load the hacked nav disk for the 3G TL...it was cool all for about an hour, until i had to pull my battery cable which then unloaded the software...
Sorry for the delay I have a small update unfortunately the website continues to be a pain in the ass as far as posting anything I'm not sure why.
First a response to @justnspace and that is a couple of questions honestly first being are you saying that you tried to install 3 G navigational data onto a 4G? If so how did that work? Then I guess my next question would be if for some reason that works properly what happened to where you had to pull your battery and lose all of the data or supposed to progress? I am intrigued by the entire notion of your post to be honest.
moving on unfortunately my job has reassigned me to a new project and I have been unable to put in any sort of real effort on this project not that I don't want to but 12 and 13 hour days are starting to take their toll. I'm also juggling this project with the aspiration of trading out the fog light surrounds on my 09 and potentially the beak with an '12 as I like the design of the fog light surround in particular. I am a bit confused at this though because I'm not sure if I'm going to have to trade out the entire front clip including the front fenders which seemed to have a blockier and more aggressive look on the 09.
this does not mean that I have made no progress though I did get the DVDs written to a dual sided DVD and attempted an install on my car as I suspected the fact that you have to provide at certain identifying information ties these DVDs to your car in particular I believe that one of the easiest things that I might be able to accomplish is to rewrite the information and make it to where someone could give me their information and I could rewrite these DVDs and make them tied to their car instead. That being said piracy is not my goal so if I were to accomplish that it would simply be a proof-of-concept kind of thing. The guy that did his hack on the TSX said that he had found a new or different Ben compiler so I am on the hunt for that still as I have not been able to get a response from him. I entered into this project understanding that it was going to be a lot of frustration with a small potential for success but I remain undaunted if you find yourself active in any of the other threads and have a chance to bring up this particular project to anyone who is well-versed in modeling our generation of car please Point them towards this thread as I still need any and all input that I can get more updates as they become available.
So I tried a different disc just now and this is what I'm getting
as you can see it is recognizing it as a map update disc however at the same time I'm being told that it is an unsupported disc so I am incredibly hesitant to try and let it do the update being as I had the error message before saying that the disc wouldn't work essentially I forget the exact error I'm afraid that it's going to not only delete all of my entries but also brick my system any thoughts?
because while I love the fact that it exists for them I replaced my 3G with a 4G before having a chance to do that oh-so-tasty bit of cracking!
