technoboy

Hi Vizcarra44,

1) I can tell you from personal experience every method or technique to eject a 'stuck' PCM update disc that the PCM is/was attempting to read short of removing the PCM and disassembly has been unsuccessful. None of them have worked in my case. If it's a PCM update disc I suspect the PCM has encountered an unexpected error or response will continue to wait for the proper response and/or attempt recovery ignoring all commands to eject the disc. IMHO the update code is written rather poorly and certainly doesn't have any fail/safe features (ie. interrogating the installed devices prior to rewriting, erasing, etc) to prevent system failures .

Faulty, dirty or corrupted discs are a different animal and chances are they will eject using the typical eject scenarios (ie. PCM reset (1-4-8), voltage toggle, rapid eject button pushing, security on/off, key on/off etc, etc).

2) If you have the initial PCM (Level 1.0 or S/W 4035) and Bose Amp you first must ensure that your Bose Amp is at S/W level 17500 as a minimum. I believe this is a hardware matter since I don't believe the PCM can handle the amp software upgrade to that level. Update disc 000.043.205.46.004 will only work if the amp is at a later level than the initial release.

FLASH

Took my car out this morning to run a few errands. On initial start-up I heard a clicking sound and lo and behold out pops the update disc. It either timed out (10 days in stuck status) or it decided it spent enough time in the PCM or some devine power gave it the 'eject command'. It's simply FM.

Anyway my new amp gets installed on Wednesday and hopefully that'll get me back on a smooth update road.

Awesome news. If the damned CD would just pop out of mine it would make taking this to the dealer to have it sorted so much easier (and potentially less expensive). I suppose I could wait it out.

Did you drive the car at all over those 10 days or was it parked without you starting the car. I thought about disconnecting the battery, but the thought of having to reset all the DME components, steering angle sensors, etc etc etc made me quickly change my mind.

Thanks, I have my fingers crossed for a speedy and (relatively) inexpensive recovery for your car!

- nick

Were your screen shots before or after your attempted update? From the AMP screen shot I assume they were taken after since the 'Target/Actual' don't match.

You have a PCM w/ phone capabilities so it should be capable of MP3 playback w/ the proper software update. The initial PCM doesn't have the hardware to support MP3 files. There is a 'free' Porsche Technical bulletin and fix for this matter as long as the PCM was of the correct version.

I suspect you'll need a trip to your dealer to straighten things out. The PIWIS tool might (I repeat might) be able to reset and restore each of the devices as long as they haven't been corrupted or turned into bricks. Since you're still under warranty you can simply play dumb and say you had nothing to do with any this and have them 'fix it'.

As you now know the PCM, AMP and NAV need to be compatible from both a hardware & software level in order to go through a successful PCM & NAV update. There are numerous hardware levels of both PCMs and Amps that make this task troublesome at best. Porsche has numerous compatibility tables and charts regarding this matter. They are all geared to 'professional' Porsche service techs and reference internal documents, procedures & tools that make these upgrades difficult for the DIY type.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the help AP997s. I noted you are in a similar situation, and I am hoping that you are able to straighten out your PCM in as low cost a manner as possible.

The screenshots are indeed after, not before. I think I might face a little warranty difficulty since the CD that is stuck in the drive is labeled (in marker no less) "PCM 2.1 update". My plan right now is to play dumb with the dealer and tell them I found the disk in the glovebox and stuck it in.

Will update as to the effectiveness of this strategy!

Hello all,

First of all, to echo another poster, BEWARE trying to update your PCM yourself, you can create a mess.

That said, I have a mid 2005 US 997 carrera S cabrio with navi and bose that I recently purchased used from a dealer in AZ. This car is still under factory warranty.

I tried yesterday to update my PCM 2.1 with the the Porsche MMI update CDs (1&2) that I downloaded from the internet along with an updated navigation DVD (997.642.257.05) that I ebayed. I did for two reasons, 1, to enable MP3 playback in the CD unit, 2, to get the latest maps and POI.

I inserted the MMI updated CD1 into the CD drive (not the changer or DVD navi unit) and started the process. After a few minutes the system appeared locked up while checking the disk and so I stupidly hit the eject button. This was a huge mistake.

The system ejected the CD and then did not return to the main screen, I did not take notes on what exactly was on the screen, however it seemed that the status said OK, so I assumed this was not an issue. I reinserted the CD thinking perhaps it would pick up where it left off (by this time I assumed it was still working and not in fact locked up). The system did not move further. I turned the car on and off and attempted to eject the CD, no luck. Now, the system gives me a message after a few moments (most likely after scanning the MOST ring) telling me the amp, CD changer and AMP are not available.

I have tried to push 148, I removed the fuse and replaced after a few minutes, however I still cannot get the CD to eject.

Based on the screenshots I took of the system post update (attached) and a lot of research that I should have done before this and not after, I surmise that I was at Level A and had I permitted the update to proceed would have been updated to level B.

My question to this list is whether there is anything I can do at home, or whether this is going to have to go to the dealer at this time. I am hoping that I have not bricked my entire PCM system. Being a techno-geek, I assumed updating a Porsche would be as trouble free as patching some software on a phone or a PC, I was very wrong.

Thanks and really enjoy this board!

- nick in sf