GM has sadly stated that there will be no more map updates for the navigation in some cars. The last version will be 20.12.02 for european maps and 20.13.? for US cars.
The cars affected and using the same system are:
The update works like this (source: link):
Is this a problem?
The code renders the third party market impossible. Nobody can make a newer map update since the code is needed for the sat nav to accept new maps. And since GM has stated that they will no longer be making updates to this system (link to statement from GM Europe, in German), it's stuck with map data that is becoming increasingly outdated.
So, how does this code thing work?
I believe that the "code" you get is matched against the VIN and something on the DVD, specific to that update. The sat nav "knows" your VIN, and it reads data on the DVD. GM knows the data on the DVD and you supplied your VIN when ordering. The code is the "copy protection" so that you cannot update more than one car. The DVDs are probably easily copied but since the code only works for one specific vehicle, they are of no use to someone without the code for their car, a code which GM is the sole supplier of. The DVDs are most probably "generic", they are not specific to the car they are supposed to be updating. It would be far too expensive and slow to make a new set of DVDs for each car.
The map data is also most probably in the same format as other sat navs, using the same map supplier (Navteq/Nokia/Here) but only GM can make new update codes and they obviously can't be bothered anymore.
Well, if I could gather many code/VIN-combinations, there's a possibility the system for creating these codes could get reverse engineered. If one "cracks" that system, it openes up the possibility to make new map update DVDs based on DVDs for other sat navs. It may be possible to create a "sat nav update code generator" for DVDs you make yourself. There is a chance that these fairly good sat navs could have a longer life!
If you've bought a map update for you car and feel like helping out, please send me the VIN of your car, the code you recieved with the DVDs and the P/N of the DVDs. It will not be shared with other than people helping out in the project and afaik, they pose no danger to you or your car. You would probably already have made the update and the code is not useful to anyone else since they can't be reused.
Sharing digital copies of the map DVDs are also greatly apreciated since that will verify that the DVDs are indeed generic.
Anyone with knowledge in copy protection and/or anything else that might be useful are happily invited to help out!
I will keep this website updated with news as soon as I have any. I cannot guarantee anything, as you may realize, but if anything comes out of this, I promise to make my findings and any software the project make in regards to this project available for free!
So, to get in contact, or share VIN/codes/DVDs or whatever comments you might have, please email me at: patrik|a|sonestad.se
I have spent many hours on trying to decompile the software without any luck. Also, I think that cracking the code might be to big of a task. My best bet for now is to swap the maps on the drive. Please read the findings page for more info.
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