Head unit sd card issue

[Tommyd]

Hoping someone can help me out with this one.

Disconnected the battery on my 2014 corolla today. On reconnecting I found the head unit was requesting the sd card be inserted, I assume it's a security as an alternative to a pin? Inserted the sd card and still no good - unable to read the contents or something along those lines. No radio functions work. I know why this has happened is because someone (who shall remain nameless!) decided to clear the card and put music on it thinking to play it through the radio.

Fully expecting to head to the dealership to resolve but thought it would be worth asking the question here. Is there any around the issue? It seems weird Toyota would leave security of the radio to an sd card which would likely be lost by the owner or just left in the radio anyway.

The radio is a touchscreen non-gps type

[CONROD]

You know the first thing they are going to ask is WHY did you disconnect the battery.

Have you had a squiz thru the radio book which come in the hand books, other than that mate sorry bud

[Tommyd]

Did have a look through the manual but no luck unfortunately. Will probably tell them I had to pull out the battery to start another car or something like that.

Did find this thread which is very helpful, but still have a few issues. Anyone else having problems I recommend having a read.

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/42626-help-please-on-my-car-radio-pzq60-00525/page-3

[Baha]

Hi, Did you find the solution ?I've got a same issue . Thanks for your help

[Baha]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2015 at 11:47 AM, Tommyd said:

Hoping someone can help me out with this one.

Disconnected the battery on my 2014 corolla today. On reconnecting I found the head unit was requesting the sd card be inserted, I assume it's a security as an alternative to a pin? Inserted the sd card and still no good - unable to read the contents or something along those lines. No radio functions work. I know why this has happened is because someone (who shall remain nameless!) decided to clear the card and put music on it thinking to play it through the radio.

Fully expecting to head to the dealership to resolve but thought it would be worth asking the question here. Is there any around the issue? It seems weird Toyota would leave security of the radio to an sd card which would likely be lost by the owner or just left in the radio anyway.

The radio is a touchscreen non-gps type

Hi, Did you find the solution ?I've got a same issue . Thanks for your help

[baj]

Anyone has any ideas or solutions? The above mentioned link is broken. I have the same issue.

[GreyZ]

On 2/4/2018 at 5:12 PM, xDiiThy said:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B38zNddW8P_KUGgwZFZ0ZlZ1bTQ

In case anyone else comes across this problem, https://au.toyotaownersclub.com/profile/42103-xdiithy/ 's four files in an SD card solved the problem for me.

[L1nk82]

I have the same problem. Is there anyone can help me please?

[nzkicks]

Signed up to say the above google drive files worked for me as well (2013 Highlander headunit 100184).  I thought I'd add a bit more info as (with respect to previous posters) the details were a bit light on how things worked and it seemed like there were still a few people around with issues.

This is actually the second time my headunit got into this state - we bought the car second hand about 4 years ago and it didn't come with the SD card.  The first time I saw this post and the google drive files, I just couldn't get it going and ended up taking it into Toyota to fix it for me (who borrowed the SD card from another Highlander that was in for a service at the same time).

This time I was frustrated enough to nearly buy a new headunit to replace this one, but thought I'd give the files one last try before I spent a few hundred bucks - and it worked!

I reckon the issue I had last time was when I tried to format the (128gb) SD card to FAT32, I only had NTFS and exFAT as format options when I right-click > formatted the drive, I think this is because of the drive size.  Given those two options, exFAT sounded the same so in my rush to get things working I thought it'd be good enough, but it didn't work (it's been 10+ years since I last played with drive partitions, don't judge me! ).  This time I had the same size card spare (it was all I had), and decided to go for a partition through Disk Management just in case the size of the drive was an issue for FAT32 and the headunit itself. 

Now, creating a small partition could be overkill (particularly if you have a small card already), but it worked for me and my large capacity card, and this is how I did it:

• Insert SD card into your computer/laptop
• In Windows, open up Disk Management
• Right click the drive, choose 'Format' - make it NTFS file system and check the 'Perform a quick format' box (you need to do this to create a partition)
• Once done, right click the drive again and choose 'Shrink Volume' - I did a 4gig section which is plenty for the ~28mb of files
• Right click the partition you just created and select 'New Simple Volume'
• In the popup, format it using FAT32 file system (tick quick format)
• Open windows explorer and copy the files to the new small partition - make sure they're in the root of the drive (i.e. not nested inside another folder - you should only have the files on the drive)
  • If you can't see the new partition in explorer you might need to right click the partition in Disk Management, select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths', and assign it a drive letter (e.g. x:)
• Eject it from windows, pop it out of the pc, then pop it in the headunit and turn the car on

I'll be buying a smaller/cheaper SD card to leave in there at all times with the files on it.  Hope this helps someone out, and thanks to the early posters who provided the files/instructions to get things going.

Edited May 14, 2020 by nzkicks

[Alfonse]

Thanks GreyZ for the google link folder and Nzkicks for the instruction. I just finish working on my car, the SD card works very well. I having graet time and hope this will help more people. 

[EvaD]

Interesting reading above which has turned into a very frustrating issue for me, I took my Toyota Truck 2013 to have a service, got it back and was told "um your SD Card wasn't in the Headunit" i said OH YES IT WAS! argued that someone in the workshop has removed it, denials all round 😞 . The above message is on the stereo screen as in "Tommyd' post" . Got home and found that for some reason the battery had been disconnected??? because the clock was out by over an hour, I think this is what someone in the workshop has done??

[Bionictom]

 

The SD Card is available from Toyota. The Price is $64.90.

This Card is available from your Local Toyota Dealership.

 

[nzkicks]

On 7/19/2020 at 10:50 AM, EvaD said:

Interesting reading above which has turned into a very frustrating issue for me, I took my Toyota Truck 2013 to have a service, got it back and was told "um your SD Card wasn't in the Headunit" i said OH YES IT WAS! argued that someone in the workshop has removed it, denials all round 😞 . The above message is on the stereo screen as in "Tommyd' post" . Got home and found that for some reason the battery had been disconnected??? because the clock was out by over an hour, I think this is what someone in the workshop has done??

Bugger, mate.

If you're stuck, I reckon buy a cheap 8-16gig SD card and follow the instructions above to get the files on there, it should get you back up and running.  I paid $13 (NZD) for my 16gb SD card - just a cheap ADATA Premier SDHC - which does the trick.  Get the files on there and you'll save yourself about $50 compared to going through the dealership (according to Bionictom's post).

[Bolat]

On 11/16/2019 at 11:45 AM, GreyZ said:

 

In case anyone else comes across this problem, https://au.toyotaownersclub.com/profile/42103-xdiithy/ 's four files in an SD card solved the problem for me.

It works, thanks a lot!! 

[Lucaaaaaaaaa]

Hi everyone, im trying now to open the google drive document to copy it to an SD card and the files aren't opening, anyone have access to the files that can link me? Thanks Luca 

[infinite-justice]

On 9/25/2021 at 2:27 PM, Lucaaaaaaaaa said:

Hi everyone, im trying now to open the google drive document to copy it to an SD card and the files aren't opening, anyone have access to the files that can link me? Thanks Luca 

Got same issue here...any help is greatly appreciated!

[nzkicks]

Have uploaded the files here, let me know if this doesn't work 👍

[Stephhhh]

On 10/30/2021 at 5:00 AM, nzkicks said:

Have uploaded the files here, let me know if this doesn't work 👍

Hi John, tried using the files you uploaded but didn't have any luck - just thought I'd let you know! Found another link here which worked for me. Hopefully either link will help others 🙂 I have got them saved on the SD card now, and have kept a copy in my own files in case anything happens to the SD card!

[Muhammad Adeel]

Can anyone please provide a work-able link of 500809 headunit software?

[Cwato]

On 7/22/2020 at 9:11 AM, Bionictom said:

 

The SD Card is available from Toyota. The Price is $64.90.

This Card is available from your Local Toyota Dealership.

 

I was quoted $250 😭 hoping one of these links work as I have no clue what I’m doing! 

[Arlyn]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOU!!!

 

nzkicks instructions and links from Stephhh worked.

We have been without audio and handsfree for a couple of years now as DH refused to pay $280 for a new SD card (which I think I lost).

I actually found an old SD card of 4gb which automatically used the FAT32 format anyway.  Have saved the filed to my laptop.

Soooo nice to have it up and running!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again folks.  Really appreciate all your tips and tricks.

 

[GHASSAN]

Hi Tommy,

Wondering if problem fixed as I have same problem and not sure how to fix it I would appreciate if any helps thanks.

[Sarah1234567]

Thank you so much nzkicks and Stephhhh! 

I had to buy a new car battery after a cell in mine died. I gather trying to jumpstart the car corrupted something on the SD card as the head unit would not read it. Toyota contacts had no advice except to unplug the new battery and try again, so we formatted the existing card and re-saved the files and it’s all working perfect! Really appreciate the saved money here! 

[Cruiser200]

On 5/14/2020 at 7:49 PM, nzkicks said:

Signed up to say the above google drive files worked for me as well (2013 Highlander headunit 100184).  I thought I'd add a bit more info as (with respect to previous posters) the details were a bit light on how things worked and it seemed like there were still a few people around with issues.

This is actually the second time my headunit got into this state - we bought the car second hand about 4 years ago and it didn't come with the SD card.  The first time I saw this post and the google drive files, I just couldn't get it going and ended up taking it into Toyota to fix it for me (who borrowed the SD card from another Highlander that was in for a service at the same time).

This time I was frustrated enough to nearly buy a new headunit to replace this one, but thought I'd give the files one last try before I spent a few hundred bucks - and it worked!

I reckon the issue I had last time was when I tried to format the (128gb) SD card to FAT32, I only had NTFS and exFAT as format options when I right-click > formatted the drive, I think this is because of the drive size.  Given those two options, exFAT sounded the same so in my rush to get things working I thought it'd be good enough, but it didn't work (it's been 10+ years since I last played with drive partitions, don't judge me! ).  This time I had the same size card spare (it was all I had), and decided to go for a partition through Disk Management just in case the size of the drive was an issue for FAT32 and the headunit itself. 

Now, creating a small partition could be overkill (particularly if you have a small card already), but it worked for me and my large capacity card, and this is how I did it:

• Insert SD card into your computer/laptop
• In Windows, open up Disk Management
• Right click the drive, choose 'Format' - make it NTFS file system and check the 'Perform a quick format' box (you need to do this to create a partition)
• Once done, right click the drive again and choose 'Shrink Volume' - I did a 4gig section which is plenty for the ~28mb of files
• Right click the partition you just created and select 'New Simple Volume'
• In the popup, format it using FAT32 file system (tick quick format)
• Open windows explorer and copy the files to the new small partition - make sure they're in the root of the drive (i.e. not nested inside another folder - you should only have the files on the drive)
  • If you can't see the new partition in explorer you might need to right click the partition in Disk Management, select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths', and assign it a drive letter (e.g. x:)
• Eject it from windows, pop it out of the pc, then pop it in the headunit and turn the car on

I'll be buying a smaller/cheaper SD card to leave in there at all times with the files on it.  Hope this helps someone out, and thanks to the early posters who provided the files/instructions to get things going.

G'day NZKicks,

I'm just trying to get my unit in a Toyota Corolla going, the card was lost. Just bought 32Gig SanDisk and transferred the files straight onto the Card as it was formatted already to FAT32. Didn't work. I then ran through your instructions and created a 4Gig partition and formatted that only for Fat32.. Loaded the four files straight onto the 4Gig partition and still no luck. 

Files are:

EB.DAT

MM.DAT

RG.DAT

SS.DAT

I've now deleted/cancelled the 4Gig partition and loaded the files straight onto the 28Gig section.. No luck also. Damn, this sounded too easy.. Tech stuff (I studied 3D animation) can get very specific and one thing wrong is a no-win. 

Is there anything I'm missing here that you can see?

Thanks in advance 

 

 

[Cccl]

Ive tried this for my 2014 Toyota Corolla Levin ZR hatchback and no luck. I tried to read the old card but will not read at all. Any other solutions ?