In the early nineties, most Sat-Navs were standalone systems and it wouldn`t surprise me if software could be swapped as a Vauxhall CARIN, a Nissan CARIN and and aftermarket CARIN are pretty much the same unit - all displaying the Philips Logo and branding. I know that the replacement for the CARIN (when Philips became VDO DAYTON) did not use any backwards compatible software at the time and was heavily encrypted back then.
The "proper" sat navs that are integrated into the vehicle (ie high speed units for cars, as opposed to the cheap portable devices for hikers and bikers) all generally have some form of "update" on the disc for the operating system of the vehicle they are fitted to. Whilst there are very few Map/Software/Data providers that produce these discs, (usually Teleatlas or Navtech) and you may think that there should be some compatibilities there, don`t also forget that security software has also moved forwards leaps and bounds to prevent discs from being swapped as you are hoping. That said - if your can break the file structure to insert a later database - who knows?
I also have a deep suspicion (for the conspiricy theorists amongst you) that one of the reputable mapping providers for the VAG group has actually put a dodgy version online, where the download would corrupt the bios of the unit when loaded, with the underlying message of "stop using pirated software" and whilst we cannot prove this, we do see a good dozen Audi / VW Nav units here each week for the same problem !! Whoever wrote the software really knew what they were doing, as it also turns off the eject mech, so the counterfeit disc remains inside the unit.
Hmmm . . . .
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Topic: Opel, Vx Satnav Series HU's and Speed Camera Alerts (Read 4471 times)