CMU bricked repair

Hi,

Actually, your CMU is bricked. I did the exact same thing as you where my car was turned off just after installing the failsafe package. Luckily there is a way to recover, which is not so easy to do, bit it's quiet doable if you are not afraid to unmount the CMU, open it and plug some wires.

Full explanation:
Thanks to this website: http://www.2x4logic.com it saves me a lot of time to dig on how the system works. The CMU update process is indeed very badly designed, as it has plenty of failure points where it ends with a bricked device that will not boot anymore. The easiest way to do that is by shutting the CMU off after the failsafe package installation. Basically what happens is that a small flash chip that contains the boot program has a flag on it that decides on which system it has to boot. It can either be the normal Mazda system, or the «failsafe» software. When you install the failsafe update package without the 2nd reinstall package, the flash chip boot select mode is set to boot on the ibc1 partition, which does not match the current Mazda system. This ibc1 partition is updated by the reinstall package. So it’s bricked because it cannot boot anymore.
The easiest fix here is to change the boot select value on the flash chip to boot on ibc2 (the failsafe). This is normally done by the update process, after the reinstallation package is checked for integrity. Here we are going to do it by forcing the boot. It will start the «failsafe» installation software, that will tell us that installation fails and that we can retry by putting a USB key into the car with a correct reinstallation package. Then the installation will continue and finish.

Tutorial:
Here is a step by step tutorial on how to achieve this. Be aware that It can be hard to do this if you do not understand what you are doing. But in case your CMU is bricked (black screen after a failed upgrade or so) you have nothing to loose, right? Bringing the car to a dealer will not help, they will just charge you for a full CMU replacement, and that costs a lot…

The flash chip is placed on the back of the CMU’s PCB. It’s a NOR SPI Flash. The idea is to directly connect to this chip and use a raspberry pi (that has an SPI bus) to reprogram the memory.

Required hardware:

• A raspberry pi
• A Programmer Test Clip SOIC16 or 6x IC Test clips (I used test clips)
• A breadboard to do the connections

On the raspberry pi, you need to install Raspbian (Lite version is ok). From a fresh install of Rasbian, setup the pi to have SPI enabled by running:

sudo raspi-config
(enable SPI in Interfacing Options*)
sudo reboot

Install some required tools:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential libusb-1.0-0-dev libusb-dev git wget curl libpci-dev

Get a newer version of flashrom:

git clone https://github.com/flashrom/flashrom
cd flashrom
make
sync

Shut the power off of the raspberry.

Now the raspberry pi is ready. Unmount the CMU from your car (look on youtube for video on how to do it, it’s easy), unscrew the PCB from the CMU and plug the wires from the raspberry to the flash chip like here (see attached pic) and http://www.2x4logic.com/mcbot-annotated.jpg

Turn the raspberry pi on. And check if the flash is detected:

cd flashrom
./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

This will tell if a chip is detected or not. If not your wiring is not ok. When something is detected, flashrom may tell you that multiple different chips are detected. That’s because some chips from a same manufacturer can have the same protocol. You need to read the right device model from what is written on the chip. I had a MX25L6445E. I know that some other CMU may have a different chip model. It should also work if flashrom can detect it.

Then try to read the memory and do a backup:

./flashrom -r backup-cmu.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Carefully read what flashrom is doing to check of any failure. I had to use the option -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" to select the right chip model in flashrom as it was written when using the -p option (list all detected devices)

Once you have the backup, we modify the boot-select byte inside the file

cp backup-cmu.bin cmu-mod.bin
printf '\x00' | dd of=cmu-mod.bin bs=1 seek=65536 count=1 conv=notrunc

Now it’s time to write the modified file to the flash:

./flashrom -w cmu-mod.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Read back the flash to verify it worked

./flashrom -r cmu.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Check if the file matches by verifying the checksum

sha1sum cmu.bin cmu-mod.bin

The checksum should match, if they do, the procedure is done. It’s time to unplug everything and put the CMU back in the car. The CMU should boot into the failsafe recovery system and ask you for a USB key with the reinstall package.

Good luck, and happy hacking!

 

CMU bricked repair

Hi,

Actually, your CMU is bricked. I did the exact same thing as you where my car was turned off just after installing the failsafe package. Luckily there is a way to recover, which is not so easy to do, bit it's quiet doable if you are not afraid to unmount the CMU, open it and plug some wires.

Full explanation:
Thanks to this website: http://www.2x4logic.com it saves me a lot of time to dig on how the system works. The CMU update process is indeed very badly designed, as it has plenty of failure points where it ends with a bricked device that will not boot anymore. The easiest way to do that is by shutting the CMU off after the failsafe package installation. Basically what happens is that a small flash chip that contains the boot program has a flag on it that decides on which system it has to boot. It can either be the normal Mazda system, or the «failsafe» software. When you install the failsafe update package without the 2nd reinstall package, the flash chip boot select mode is set to boot on the ibc1 partition, which does not match the current Mazda system. This ibc1 partition is updated by the reinstall package. So it’s bricked because it cannot boot anymore.
The easiest fix here is to change the boot select value on the flash chip to boot on ibc2 (the failsafe). This is normally done by the update process, after the reinstallation package is checked for integrity. Here we are going to do it by forcing the boot. It will start the «failsafe» installation software, that will tell us that installation fails and that we can retry by putting a USB key into the car with a correct reinstallation package. Then the installation will continue and finish.

Tutorial:
Here is a step by step tutorial on how to achieve this. Be aware that It can be hard to do this if you do not understand what you are doing. But in case your CMU is bricked (black screen after a failed upgrade or so) you have nothing to loose, right? Bringing the car to a dealer will not help, they will just charge you for a full CMU replacement, and that costs a lot…

The flash chip is placed on the back of the CMU’s PCB. It’s a NOR SPI Flash. The idea is to directly connect to this chip and use a raspberry pi (that has an SPI bus) to reprogram the memory.

Required hardware:

• A raspberry pi
• A Programmer Test Clip SOIC16 or 6x IC Test clips (I used test clips)
• A breadboard to do the connections

On the raspberry pi, you need to install Raspbian (Lite version is ok). From a fresh install of Rasbian, setup the pi to have SPI enabled by running:

sudo raspi-config
(enable SPI in Interfacing Options*)
sudo reboot

Install some required tools:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential libusb-1.0-0-dev libusb-dev git wget curl libpci-dev

Get a newer version of flashrom:

git clone [url]https://github.com/flashrom/flashrom[/url]
cd flashrom
make
sync

Shut the power off of the raspberry.

Now the raspberry pi is ready. Unmount the CMU from your car (look on youtube for video on how to do it, it’s easy), unscrew the PCB from the CMU and plug the wires from the raspberry to the flash chip like here (see attached pic) and http://www.2x4logic.com/mcbot-annotated.jpg

Turn the raspberry pi on. And check if the flash is detected:

cd flashrom
./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

This will tell if a chip is detected or not. If not your wiring is not ok. When something is detected, flashrom may tell you that multiple different chips are detected. That’s because some chips from a same manufacturer can have the same protocol. You need to read the right device model from what is written on the chip. I had a MX25L6445E. I know that some other CMU may have a different chip model. It should also work if flashrom can detect it.

Then try to read the memory and do a backup:

./flashrom -r backup-cmu.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Carefully read what flashrom is doing to check of any failure. I had to use the option -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" to select the right chip model in flashrom as it was written when using the -p option (list all detected devices)

Once you have the backup, we modify the boot-select byte inside the file

cp backup-cmu.bin cmu-mod.bin
printf '\x00' | dd of=cmu-mod.bin bs=1 seek=65536 count=1 conv=notrunc

Now it’s time to write the modified file to the flash:

./flashrom -w cmu-mod.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Read back the flash to verify it worked

./flashrom -r cmu.bin -c "MX25L6436E/MX25L6445E/MX25L6465E/MX25L6473E/MX25L6473F" -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=8000

Check if the file matches by verifying the checksum

sha1sum cmu.bin cmu-mod.bin

The checksum should match, if they do, the procedure is done. It’s time to unplug everything and put the CMU back in the car. The CMU should boot into the failsafe recovery system and ask you for a USB key with the reinstall package.

Good luck, and happy hacking!

OMG!!!! I did exactly this and my CMU is working 100% again!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! For anyone having this issue, its worth to try using this method!! I tried using the mini programmer it didnt work but with this raspberry pi trick does! Thanks!!

 

Hi everyone and happy new year!

A couple of days ago (the new year's eve ) I had the frustrating experience of bricking my MZD Connect CMU , getting a permanent black screen, while trying to update the firmware from v56.00.513 to v70.00.100, due to a failure during the failsafe step, because I left the Mazda AIO Tweaks installed before proceeding with the update.

I eventually managed to resurrect my CMU, to upgrade to the latest firmware and even (as a bonus) to install the retrofit kit for Apple CarPlay/Android Auto with complete success , but it didn't come without some difficulties, especially to collect every piece of information needed to arrive to the final solution.

As many say on the web and throughout the forum unbricking a dead Mazda CMU it's a completely simple and doable DIY process, that can save you a bunch (1000~€), but at the same time it cannot be completely easy and straightforward when you know nothing of electronics, especially when it comes to buy some crappy cheap programming devices from the web where no accurate specification is given, and seldomly you manage to perfectly replicate the setup of a forum or a blog post.

For those of you that want to know every single detailed step-by-step information on how to resurrect a dead CMU, upgrade the firmware and how to install a retrofit kit, I will explain everything about my adventures here below.


1) Resurrecting a dead Mzd Connect CMU in case of failed failsafe installation:

CONTEXT:
The Mazda connect operating system is distributed on 2 chips:

1. The failsafe is stored on a SPI NOR Flash memory of 8MB/64Mbit size, a Macronix MX25L6445E SOIC16 (16 total exposed pins) on the European version, but I heard of a Spansion chip on the US versions as well;
   
   
   
   
   The failsafe name is really misleading, because the software loaded in this chip is actually the bios or if you prefer the bootloader of the CMU operating system, and this piece of software is crucial for the correct functionality of the headunit itself. Without it or with a corruption of its data, there is no way your CMU will boot anymore, and the screen will be black and dead.
   
   This chip is located on the back of the CMU motherboard.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. The operating system (a sort of linux displaying html pages as GUI) is stored on a NAND flash located on the front of the CMU motherboard:
   
   

When we update the firmware of our CMUs the main problems occur when we upgrade the failsafe image: this process involves, as you may understand, the reflash of the crucial SPI NOR flash memory... thus risking in case of failed installation, car shut down, corruption, or partial load to brick the CMU itself.... not so fail safe after all.

In fact the fail safe upgrade has been completely removed starting from firmware version v70.00.300+, I bet because they understood it was an uber risky process and finally decided to keep the "bios"/bootloader stable and untouched .... (they should have designed the system like this from the beginning, in a real fail safe way ...)

Credits for the mazda system teardown images: Mazda Connect infotainment teardown




HOW TO FIX (without soldering for absolute beginners):

Now in the unfortunate case you bricked your CMU, what can you do?? Can you really resurrect your CMU even though you're not an expert or an electronic engineer?
Yes absolutely, but of course you should be careful and buy the right material. With an expense of maximum 50€ you will save yourself a 1000€ expense at the dealership.

Material:

1. Trim removal kit: 10-20€ amazon link
   This is needed to remove the car internal trims without breaking them, to get access and be able to remove the CMU from the car;
   
   
   
2. 10 mm socket wrench
   
   
   
3. a set of torx and cross screwdrivers
   
   
   
4. 1x CH341A Programmer : 10-20€ / eu amazon link: ZHITING SOIC8 SOP8 Flash Chip IC Test Clips Socket Adapter Programmer BIOS + CH341A 24 25 Series EEPROM Flash BIOS USB Programmer Module (Doppia Clip + USB) : Amazon.it: Elettronica
   A simple and super cheap SPI NOR flash/EEPROM programmer. This is the most important part: you absolutely need this to reprogram your CMU's MX25L6445E chip (SPI NOR flash).
   
   
   
   
   
   NOTE: on Amazon there is a thousand of generic programmers available mainly coming from China.
   You should keep one main concept in mind: the MX25L6445E is a 3.3v chip (datasheet, check page 8) and for this reason you ABSOLUTELY need a programmer that powers the chip's VCC with exactly 3.3v (most of the programmers would do that) otherwise you will fry your SPI chip.
   Secondly (this is extremely important as well!!) the programmer that you buy should also program the chip with 3.3v tension; in other terms the logical channels (MISO, MOSI, etc.) should also be feeded with exactly 3.3v and NOT 5v otherwise the overvolted data channels will totally alter the data flow and you won't be able to read/write/verify valid data on the chip.
   Moreover you risk to fry your chip also in this case (even though the risk is much lower since you're not directly over tensioning the chip power source).
   
   
   
   
   Now this is very important to know.. most of the ch341a programmers that you will find online have an issue: they can feed the target chip in the socket with a selectable tension (using a jumper) of either 3.3v either 5v, but they will always provide a 5v tension to the logical channels... and this may be a big problem causing you big headaches as I explained you just above.
   A successful programming may be impossible, or extremely hard, and moreover you risk your chip health.
   
   At this point it's key testing with a voltage tester if your programmer feeds the chip and the data channels with a 5v or 3.3v tension.
   Refer to these videos (ignore the soldering solution, just check which contacts voltage you should measure):
   video 1 video2
   
   In case the channels are feeded with 5v, the solution resides in performing a simple volt mod on the programmer, to force the ch341a IC in a 100% 3.3v mode:
   
   - Just cut with a cutter the PCB trace as visible in this picture (this will cut out the 5v incoming tension from the USB port, making the tension 0v on the socket itself):
   
   
   
   
   - Place a jumper between the 3.3v and the 5v pins located on the usb programmer as in the following pic (this will bring the 3.3v tension back from the regulator and propagate it on the socket, reaching both the target chip's VCC and the logical channels, making only a 3.3v tension flow in the entire circuit):
   
   
   
   
   Now we are ready to succesfully program our SPI NOR flash.
   
   
   
5. 1x SOP16 IC Test clip with adapters ( amazon link ) or 8x single pin test clips ( amazon link ). 10-20€
   Now this is the second crucial component: you need it to connect the programmer to your chip without desoldering.
   If you decide to go for the 16pins test clip you want to make sure you will get in the package a SOP16 to SOP8 adapter as well. This will save you a big amount of time, because the wiring below will be already done.
   
   
   
   
   
   If you decide to go for the 8x single pin test clips, or if you have no SOP16-SOP8 adapter provided with your SOP16 test clip, it's important to connect the 16pins of the MX25L6445E chip to the 8pins of the 25xx ZIF (zero insertion force) socket of the CH341A programmer correctly:
   
   
   
   
   
   In this case the solution will be to manually connect each one of the 25 series socket's 8 pins to the corresponding pin of the MX25L6445E according to the schema above: to do this you can use jumper wires for your convenience or you can cut and rejoin clip cables. (example of manual connection performed cutting and joining cables)
   
   
   
6. Jumper wires (always useful to make connections): 5-10€ amazon link

Software:

1. CH341A programmer: this software is open source, you can search the internet for CH341A 1.18 programming software (check this how-to video description for a link to it), this is the best software to work with this SPI chip; otherwise you may try one between: AsProgrammer, NeoProgrammer or Colibri (also easy to find on Google);
2. [optional] a non corrupted copy of your failsafe rom version (e.g: if before bricking it you had the 56.00.513 installed, you need a working version of the failsafe v56.00.513);
   for v56.00.513 EU you may find it in the comments of this page: How I unbricked CMU in my Mazda

Procedure:

1. Use the trim kit to remove all the trims and gain access to the CMU: you can refer to these videos to understand how to get access the CMU unit;
2. Use the 10mm socket wrench to remove the main bolt holding the CMU, pull it and disconnect the connectors (be very careful, these connectors and matching pins are really weak, I managed easily to bend something and it was a nightmare make it fit again);
3. Use the torx and cross screwdrivers to remove only the bottom metal bracket and case from the CMU so that you gain access to the CMU motherboard;
4. Extract the CMU motherboard, put it upside down and get access to the SPI NOR flash chip, try to locate it using the above pictures as a reference;
5. Clamp precisely the test clip on the MX25L6445E SPI chip so that the magenta cable (indicating PIN n°1) matches exactly the dot on the chip (indicating PIN n°1) (don't make mistakes: you won't damage the chip but without a good connection no programming will be possible);
6. Connect the connector of the test clip to the SOP16-to-SOP8 adapter (making sure that the magenta colored wire corresponds to the silkscreened 1 on the adapter PCB) (otherwise perform the correct jumper connections as explained above);
7. Place the adapter or the jumpers in the ZIF (zero insertion force) socket of the CH341A programmer (making sure you match the PIN n°1 of the adapter with the PIN n°1 of the 25xx side of the ZIF socket, that should be silkscreened on the programmer itself. In any case normally it's in the center right (4th pin of the right column from top) of the ZIF socket looking at it with the lever facing down. Check this how-to video to understand it better);
8. NOTE: step 5, 6 and 7 are crucial: if you don't connect correctly the chip to the programmer no programming will be feasible;
9. Install the CH341A parallel drivers on your PC
10. Start the CH341A programmer on your PC, you should see a Device disconnected status
11. Connect the USB programmer, you should see a Device connected status
12. Click detect IC chip, the Macronix MX25L6445E should be detected (often is wrongly detected as MX25L6405D, this isn't a problem since the 2 chip have the exact same page size and total size);
13. Click read chip;
14. Click verify chip;
15. If the verification is a success you can save the current status of the rom in a backup.bin file, to preserve your current status of the chip (even if it's broken you never know);
16. Erase the chip and verify the blank space of the chip;
17. Now you have two options: either you open the working ROM file of the same version of your CMU OS that I mentioned above (Software -> point 2), and program it to get your CMU working again (so for example you could then remove any existing tweaks and clean up your CMU before updating it), or in case you haven't found a valid rom for your CMU OS, you can just keep the corrupted version of the rom, go to hex offset 0x10000 (boot select partition) and change all the FF bytes of the row to 00 so that you change the boot mode from OS to update mode: this tells the CMU to start and try to complete the interrupted update. In this last scenario you will need to prepare an usb pen with the update you want to complete before mounting back the CMU in your car;
18. Program the chosen ROM file on the chip and verify the correctness of the write;
19. NOTE: Only if all of the above steps are passed with success you can proceed to reassemble the CMU with confidence that it will work;
20. Re-assemble the CMU;
21. Mount again the CMU in the car and in case you forced the update mode, complete the update procedure (make sure not to turn off the car this time);

Done! If you followed everything carefully you should, by now, have again a working & resurrected CMU yay!


For a more clear overview of the steps I described, check out this extremely helpful how-to video.



2) Updating firmware (without destroying) Mzd Connect CMU:

Find the correct firmware update for your CMU:

• if you have < 31.00.100 you should first update to v31.00.100
• if you have < 70.00.100 you should first update to v70.00.100
• if you have >= 70.00.100 you can update directly to v70.00.367 (latest)

I don't have links but you may find something on the internet.
Once you find your update copy failsafe.up and reinstall.up on a fat32 formatted empty <64gb USB pen.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: if you intend to update and you have Mazda AIO Tweaks installed on your CMU I strongly suggest you to remove all of them (perform system restore) before proceeding with the update, otherwise you risk to brick it for failure during failsafe installation (as it happened to me).
Also ensure that the usb pen contains only the update files and that is a fully working usb pen (any read error at failsafe installation time may end up into bricking your CMU).

If you took all the above precautions you can proceed with the update. Follow carefully the PDF guide provided with the updates: before the update press 2 and 3 in the diagnostic menu and press the brake pedal every 10-20 minutes to avoid the CMU to shutdown in the middle of the update process.

Good luck!

3) [bonus] Retrofit CarPlay/Android Auto

This kit is really simple to install, just follow the video provided in the useful resources. You can find working compatible kits on Amazon for less than 150€. It just consists into a new more powerful USB HUB and cables (able to bring in more current, thus more data), and it makes the updated CMUs (at least on FW v70.00.021) enable the Android Auto and CarPlay features.
The kit you are searching for should contain cables C922-V6-605A and USB HUB TK78-66-9U0C and they should work for both EU and US versions of the CMU (according to forum sources, I can confirm for EU version: link to working kit).

Useful resources:

• 2 repair techniques described (one with raspberry pi and the other with this same usb programmer)
• 2x4logic Mazda connect teardown
• 2x4 logic Mazda failsafe invocation
• 2x4logic Mazda failsafe not so safe
• How I unbricked my cmu
• Mazda3 Retrofit (carplay+android auto) how-to-install video

I really hope that these information will come in a handy and be useful to anyone still facing these issues.
I thought it could be convenient to concentrate all these infos in one single page, since I spent couple of days collecting them all.

Finally I wish you again a happy new year and good luck with modifying your CMU!

 

Hi everyone and happy new year!

A couple of days ago (the new year's eve ) I had the frustrating experience of bricking my MZD Connect CMU , getting a permanent black screen, while trying to update the firmware from v56.00.513 to v70.00.100, due to a failure during the failsafe step, because I left the Mazda AIO Tweaks installed before proceeding with the update.

I eventually managed to resurrect my CMU, to upgrade to the latest firmware and even (as a bonus) to install the retrofit kit for Apple CarPlay/Android Auto with complete success , but it didn't come without some difficulties, especially to collect every piece of information needed to arrive to the final solution.

As many say on the web and throughout the forum unbricking a dead Mazda CMU it's a completely simple and doable DIY process, that can save you a bunch (1000~€), but at the same time it cannot be completely easy and straightforward when you know nothing of electronics, especially when it comes to buy some crappy cheap programming devices from the web where no accurate specification is given, and seldomly you manage to perfectly replicate the setup of a forum or a blog post.

For those of you that want to know every single detailed step-by-step information on how to resurrect a dead CMU, upgrade the firmware and how to install a retrofit kit, I will explain everything about my adventures here below.


1) Resurrecting a dead Mzd Connect CMU in case of failed failsafe installation:

CONTEXT:
The Mazda connect operating system is distributed on 2 chips:

1. The failsafe is stored on a SPI NOR Flash memory of 8MB/64Mbit size, a Macronix MX25L6445E SOIC16 (16 total exposed pins) on the European version, but I heard of a Spansion chip on the US versions as well;
   
   View attachment 285149
   
   The failsafe name is really misleading, because the software loaded in this chip is actually the bios or if you prefer the bootloader of the CMU operating system, and this piece of software is crucial for the correct functionality of the headunit itself. Without it or with a corruption of its data, there is no way your CMU will boot anymore, and the screen will be black and dead.
   
   This chip is located on the back of the CMU motherboard.
   
   View attachment 285150
   
   
   
2. The operating system (a sort of linux displaying html pages as GUI) is stored on a NAND flash located on the front of the CMU motherboard:
   
   View attachment 285151

When we update the firmware of our CMUs the main problems occur when we upgrade the failsafe image: this process involves, as you may understand, the reflash of the crucial SPI NOR flash memory... thus risking in case of failed installation, car shut down, corruption, or partial load to brick the CMU itself.... not so fail safe after all.

In fact the fail safe upgrade has been completely removed starting from firmware version v70.00.300+, I bet because they understood it was an uber risky process and finally decided to keep the "bios"/bootloader stable and untouched .... (they should have designed the system like this from the beginning, in a real fail safe way ...)

Credits for the mazda system teardown images: Mazda Connect infotainment teardown




HOW TO FIX (without soldering for absolute beginners):

Now in the unfortunate case you bricked your CMU, what can you do?? Can you really resurrect your CMU even though you're not an expert or an electronic engineer?
Yes absolutely, but of course you should be careful and buy the right material. With an expense of maximum 50€ you will save yourself a 1000€ expense at the dealership.

Material:

1. Trim removal kit: 10-20€ amazon link
   This is needed to remove the car internal trims without breaking them, to get access and be able to remove the CMU from the car;
   
   
   
2. 10 mm socket wrench
   
   
   
3. a set of torx and cross screwdrivers
   
   
   
4. 1x CH341A Programmer : 10-20€ / eu amazon link: ZHITING SOIC8 SOP8 Flash Chip IC Test Clips Socket Adapter Programmer BIOS + CH341A 24 25 Series EEPROM Flash BIOS USB Programmer Module (Doppia Clip + USB) : Amazon.it: Elettronica
   A simple and super cheap SPI NOR flash/EEPROM programmer. This is the most important part: you absolutely need this to reprogram your CMU's MX25L6445E chip (SPI NOR flash).
   
   View attachment 285152
   
   
   NOTE: on Amazon there is a thousand of generic programmers available mainly coming from China.
   You should keep one main concept in mind: the MX25L6445E is a 3.3v chip (datasheet, check page 8) and for this reason you ABSOLUTELY need a programmer that powers the chip's VCC with exactly 3.3v (most of the programmers would do that) otherwise you will fry your SPI chip.
   Secondly (this is extremely important as well!!) the programmer that you buy should also program the chip with 3.3v tension; in other terms the logical channels (MISO, MOSI, etc.) should also be feeded with exactly 3.3v and NOT 5v otherwise the overvolted data channels will totally alter the data flow and you won't be able to read/write/verify valid data on the chip.
   Moreover you risk to fry your chip also in this case (even though the risk is much lower since you're not directly over tensioning the chip power source).
   
   View attachment 285153
   
   Now this is very important to know.. most of the ch341a programmers that you will find online have an issue: they can feed the target chip in the socket with a selectable tension (using a jumper) of either 3.3v either 5v, but they will always provide a 5v tension to the logical channels... and this may be a big problem causing you big headaches as I explained you just above.
   A successful programming may be impossible, or extremely hard, and moreover you risk your chip health.
   
   At this point it's key testing with a voltage tester if your programmer feeds the chip and the data channels with a 5v or 3.3v tension.
   Refer to these videos (ignore the soldering solution, just check which contacts voltage you should measure):
   video 1 video2
   
   In case the channels are feeded with 5v, the solution resides in performing a simple volt mod on the programmer, to force the ch341a IC in a 100% 3.3v mode:
   
   - Just cut with a cutter the PCB trace as visible in this picture (this will cut out the 5v incoming tension from the USB port, making the tension 0v on the socket itself):
   
   View attachment 285154
   
   - Place a jumper between the 3.3v and the 5v pins located on the usb programmer as in the following pic (this will bring the 3.3v tension back from the regulator and propagate it on the socket, reaching both the target chip's VCC and the logical channels, making only a 3.3v tension flow in the entire circuit):
   
   View attachment 285156
   
   Now we are ready to succesfully program our SPI NOR flash.
   
   
   
5. 1x SOP16 IC Test clip with adapters ( amazon link ) or 8x single pin test clips ( amazon link ). 10-20€
   Now this is the second crucial component: you need it to connect the programmer to your chip without desoldering.
   If you decide to go for the 16pins test clip you want to make sure you will get in the package a SOP16 to SOP8 adapter as well. This will save you a big amount of time, because the wiring below will be already done.
   
   View attachment 285158
   
   
   If you decide to go for the 8x single pin test clips, or if you have no SOP16-SOP8 adapter provided with your SOP16 test clip, it's important to connect the 16pins of the MX25L6445E chip to the 8pins of the 25xx ZIF (zero insertion force) socket of the CH341A programmer correctly:
   
   View attachment 285157
   
   
   In this case the solution will be to manually connect each one of the 25 series socket's 8 pins to the corresponding pin of the MX25L6445E according to the schema above: to do this you can use jumper wires for your convenience or you can cut and rejoin clip cables. (example of manual connection performed cutting and joining cables)
   
   
   
6. Jumper wires (always useful to make connections): 5-10€ amazon link

Software:

1. CH341A programmer: this software is open source, you can search the internet for CH341A 1.18 programming software (check this how-to video description for a link to it), this is the best software to work with this SPI chip; otherwise you may try one between: AsProgrammer, NeoProgrammer or Colibri (also easy to find on Google);
2. [optional] a non corrupted copy of your failsafe rom version (e.g: if before bricking it you had the 56.00.513 installed, you need a working version of the failsafe v56.00.513);
   for v56.00.513 EU you may find it in the comments of this page: How I unbricked CMU in my Mazda

Procedure:

1. Use the trim kit to remove all the trims and gain access to the CMU: you can refer to these videos to understand how to get access the CMU unit;
2. Use the 10mm socket wrench to remove the main bolt holding the CMU, pull it and disconnect the connectors (be very careful, these connectors and matching pins are really weak, I managed easily to bend something and it was a nightmare make it fit again);
3. Use the torx and cross screwdrivers to remove only the bottom metal bracket and case from the CMU so that you gain access to the CMU motherboard;
4. Extract the CMU motherboard, put it upside down and get access to the SPI NOR flash chip, try to locate it using the above pictures as a reference;
5. Clamp precisely the test clip on the MX25L6445E SPI chip so that the magenta cable (indicating PIN n°1) matches exactly the dot on the chip (indicating PIN n°1) (don't make mistakes: you won't damage the chip but without a good connection no programming will be possible);
6. Connect the connector of the test clip to the SOP16-to-SOP8 adapter (making sure that the magenta colored wire corresponds to the silkscreened 1 on the adapter PCB) (otherwise perform the correct jumper connections as explained above);
7. Place the adapter or the jumpers in the ZIF (zero insertion force) socket of the CH341A programmer (making sure you match the PIN n°1 of the adapter with the PIN n°1 of the 25xx side of the ZIF socket, that should be silkscreened on the programmer itself. In any case normally it's in the center right (4th pin of the right column from top) of the ZIF socket looking at it with the lever facing down. Check this how-to video to understand it better);
8. NOTE: step 5, 6 and 7 are crucial: if you don't connect correctly the chip to the programmer no programming will be feasible;
9. Install the CH341A parallel drivers on your PC
10. Start the CH341A programmer on your PC, you should see a Device disconnected status
11. Connect the USB programmer, you should see a Device connected status
12. Click detect IC chip, the Macronix MX25L6445E should be detected (often is wrongly detected as MX25L6405D, this isn't a problem since the 2 chip have the exact same page size and total size);
13. Click read chip;
14. Click verify chip;
15. If the verification is a success you can save the current status of the rom in a backup.bin file, to preserve your current status of the chip (even if it's broken you never know);
16. Erase the chip and verify the blank space of the chip;
17. Now you have two options: either you open the working ROM file of the same version of your CMU OS that I mentioned above (Software -> point 2), and program it to get your CMU working again (so for example you could then remove any existing tweaks and clean up your CMU before updating it), or in case you haven't found a valid rom for your CMU OS, you can just keep the corrupted version of the rom, go to hex offset 0x10000 (boot select partition) and change all the FF bytes of the row to 00 so that you change the boot mode from OS to update mode: this tells the CMU to start and try to complete the interrupted update. In this last scenario you will need to prepare an usb pen with the update you want to complete before mounting back the CMU in your car;
18. Program the chosen ROM file on the chip and verify the correctness of the write;
19. NOTE: Only if all of the above steps are passed with success you can proceed to reassemble the CMU with confidence that it will work;
20. Re-assemble the CMU;
21. Mount again the CMU in the car and in case you forced the update mode, complete the update procedure (make sure not to turn off the car this time);

Done! If you followed everything carefully you should, by now, have again a working & resurrected CMU yay!


For a more clear overview of the steps I described, check out this extremely helpful how-to video.



2) Updating firmware (without destroying) Mzd Connect CMU:

Find the correct firmware update for your CMU:

• if you have < 31.00.100 you should first update to v31.00.100
• if you have < 70.00.100 you should first update to v70.00.100
• if you have >= 70.00.100 you can update directly to v70.00.367 (latest)

I don't have links but you may find something on the internet.
Once you find your update copy failsafe.up and reinstall.up on a fat32 formatted empty <64gb USB pen.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: if you intend to update and you have Mazda AIO Tweaks installed on your CMU I strongly suggest you to remove all of them (perform system restore) before proceeding with the update, otherwise you risk to brick it for failure during failsafe installation (as it happened to me).
Also ensure that the usb pen contains only the update files and that is a fully working usb pen (any read error at failsafe installation time may end up into bricking your CMU).

If you took all the above precautions you can proceed with the update. Follow carefully the PDF guide provided with the updates: before the update press 2 and 3 in the diagnostic menu and press the brake pedal every 10-20 minutes to avoid the CMU to shutdown in the middle of the update process.

Good luck!

3) [bonus] Retrofit CarPlay/Android Auto

This kit is really simple to install, just follow the video provided in the useful resources. You can find working compatible kits on Amazon for less than 150€. It just consists into a new more powerful USB HUB and cables (able to bring in more current, thus more data), and it makes the updated CMUs (at least on FW v70.00.021) enable the Android Auto and CarPlay features.
The kit you are searching for should contain cables C922-V6-605A and USB HUB TK78-66-9U0C and they should work for both EU and US versions of the CMU (according to forum sources, I can confirm for EU version: link to working kit).

Useful resources:

• 2 repair techniques described (one with raspberry pi and the other with this same usb programmer)
• 2x4logic Mazda connect teardown
• 2x4 logic Mazda failsafe invocation
• 2x4logic Mazda failsafe not so safe
• How I unbricked my cmu
• Mazda3 Retrofit (carplay+android auto) how-to-install video

I really hope that these information will come in a handy and be useful to anyone still facing these issues.
I thought it could be convenient to concentrate all these infos in one single page, since I spent couple of days collecting them all.

Finally I wish you again a happy new year and good luck with modifying your CMU!

All steps and instructions for SPI NOR flash method will not work on bricked CMU which have firmware version >= 70.00.335 from Mazda factory....
So everyone must be carefully on working with that CMU (eg: update firmware, install scripts...)
I tried it two years ago on CMU with firmware 70.00.335 and can't recover that CMU... (tried on 3 CMU)...
Did somebody successful recover bricked CMU with firmware >=70.00.335 (original firmware install by Mazda factory, not upgraded firmware)?
Thank!

 

i unbricked my cmu with this usb and soic 16 clip.

 

Just as info: With an installed 74.00.310 NA you can not downgrade anymore (before including 74.00.230 NA this was possible for me). At the update/downgrade process it does not show lower versions anymore. But via the SPI NOR method described here, lower versions can be installed again. I tried it myself. I had 74.00.310 NA installed. Then I flashed the SPI NOR to failsafe 70.00.100 EU (file see post #88), changed the FF to 00, so that a forced update process began. At the usb stick were the two 70.00.100 EU firmware files, which were installed successfully. Now I have 70.00.100 EU again and can upgrade/downgrade like I want. Afterwards you can also install the firmware of other regions like NA or ADR.

Tip/hint: No files of lower firmware versions should be at the stick. Otherwise it tries to install them, which was not successful in my 1st try.

Thanks again to raoulh and Vien Tinh!

 

Version 74.00.310 of your CMU is factory installed firmware or you upgrade it to ver 74.00.310...
If CMU is upgraded from lower version (etc: ver 59 or 70.00.100) to 74.00.310, may be there is chance to recover it if you get CMU bricked...
But CMU bricked with factory installed firmware 70.00.335 or greater, you will have no chance to unbrick it, Don't you?
Thank!

 

cmu repaire station

many thanks for your help to make it possible to build a test station
for cmu repair, update and tweaks install
up to now 5 cmu's repairde:laugh2:

 

cmu repaire station

many thanks for your help to make it possible to build a test station
for cmu repair, update and tweaks install
up to now 5 cmu's repairde:laugh2:

Can I ask for a way to connect a circuit like this? Thank you in advance.

 

this may help

h**ps://yms.livejournal.com/3007282.html

good luck

 

Hello, I bricked my MZD system, black screen and only radio was still working. I fixed it by removing the unit from the dashboard, take out the PCB and reprogram the NOR flash with version 56.00.513 Thereafter mounted the unit into the car and ran update 56.00.513. After that, ran update 70.00.335C and everything is working perfectly.
I'm based in the Netehrlands and offer help to anyone not able to do this themselves.

 

We cannot use your way with V59 and V70 versions

 

Correct, attach file in here I'll tell your version

 

HUGE thanks to everyone here that provided instructions. My Mazda is how back to life and upgraded to Carplay. I used the instructions provided by Raoulh on the first page of this thread except instead of setting the bits to force a reinstall I used the v56 failsafe from a European backup but it booted back into my v55 firmware and I was then able to upgrade to 70.00.100 and then a v74.

Here's the parts I used from Amazon Canada:

10Pcs IC Hook Test Clip, Test Clips Mini Test Clips Hook Grabbers SMD IC Hook Probe Jumper Logic Analyze Accessories, Hook Clip Grabbers Test Probe : Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

10Pcs IC Hook Test Clip, Test Clips Mini Test Clips Hook Grabbers SMD IC Hook Probe Jumper Logic Analyze Accessories, Hook Clip Grabbers Test Probe : Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.ca

3 Pack Solderless Plug in Breadboard with 3 Pack Jumper Wires, 830 Tie-Point 4 Power Rails Breadboard for Circuit Test (40 Pin Male to Female,40 Pin Male to Male,40 Pin Female to Female) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

3 Pack Solderless Plug in Breadboard with 3 Pack Jumper Wires, 830 Tie-Point 4 Power Rails Breadboard for Circuit Test (40 Pin Male to Female,40 Pin Male to Male,40 Pin Female to Female) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

I actually did not use the breadboard and just used the female to female cables in the kit to directly connect the test clips to my Raspberry Pi.

The recovery was actually very easy and I would say many parts of the Carplay DIY were actually harder (getting the old USB hub out and routing cables).

 

Hi,
So I recently attempted and succeeded at upgrading my 2016 Mazda 3 GS with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. However my experience was not as smooth due to my ignorance, but with the help of many sources I got it figured out. I wanted to write this post to share my personal experience and to kind of put together the different posts that I used to figure this out.

Part 1: Firmware Update
My firmware version was 56.000.xxx on my original unit so I would only have to do the single update (2 files) to get to 70.000.100. I started off by following this guide on YouTube:

until I stupidly decided to turn the car off between the firmware update file and reinstall package. As many of you probably know this BRICKS your CMU and you will be left with a black screen and audio from the last radio station you had open.

Part 1b: Unbricking your CMU
So now I’ve bricked my CMU. There are people here who explain the situation way more in detail and properly compared to what my understanding is so look around if you want a run down of the problem. But now I had to take out the CMU. Which is nicely explained here:

Once I had the unit out, I undid ALL the screws which are a combination of phillips and torx 20 screws. (They are also cleverly color coded from Mazda) After taking out the torx screws I popped off the metal cover and revealed the SPI NOR flash chip:

this is the chip that you need to read and flash. As far as I found there are two ways to do this.
1. With a cheap USB programmer
2. With a raspberry pi
Your mileage may vary, but the USB programmer did not work AT ALL and I only succeeded when using the raspberry pi. This forum post (up above explains how to use the raspberry: Black Screen MZD

Here’s what happened to me. Because I did not have access to a raspberry pi I decided to try the USB Programmer method explained here:

This process requires you to erase the original contents of your chip after you do a backup. (DO A BACKUP) Now I’m not sure if it was because of the USB programmer, or if it was the test clips I was using but I had problems reading and writing and essentially ended up with corrupted files and an empty chip. So now is when I went for help. Find someone who not only has but KNOWS how to use a raspberry pi. In the video that uses the USB Programmer there is a link to a google drive in the description with a copy of the users own modified file of the flash chip. Essentially I used the raspberry to flash that file from the google drive onto my chip. It’s not crazy complicated, but you can use the code from the forum post above:

Black Screen MZD

Hello, today i wanted to install the v70. I pressed the Start-Stopp Button one time and successfully installed the failsafe package. After that i wanted to install the reinstall package but an error came up "Failed to validate package certificate". So i pressed the Start-Stopp Button another...

www.mazda3revolution.com

to achieve this. Go to the line where the user writes “Now it’s time to write the modified file to the flash” and in the line of code below replace “cmu-mod.bin” with the file name of the modified version posted in the Google Drive. You can verify if it worked by switching the file names in the other lines of code, but once I installed the CMU back into the car I was prompted to insert the USB containing my reinstall package to which the installation went off without a hitch. (Pressing the clutch (manual) every 15 minutes). , I was left with a successful update to firmware 70.000.100

Side note: I also tried various ways the attach the flash chip to the raspberry pi. Ideally, you get an SOC16 Test Clip, but there are pretty hard to find in Canada so I opted to use an SOC8 Test clip for half the connections and used individual test clips for the other half of the connections:

Part 2: Installing the USB Hub
So there are plenty of tutorials online for how to Install the USB Hub when it is located in the center armrest, but my hub was located in the front of the Center console under the climate controls making the removal of the old hub more difficult. There is the hack to drill through the 4 clips, but I decided to opt out of that wanting to save my OEM part. To my surprise, taking it out properly wasn’t that difficult despite the lack of tutorials online.

Essentially, I had to slide the entire center console back which is well shown in this video here:

Now I’m this video the guy gets to a point where he takes out completely the center console including the arm rest, I DID NOT have to do this. Once I had the center console slid back about 5 inches, I was able to reach in and undo the 2 top clips of the USB hub and get the top edge poking out of the hole while keeping tension. Next with my other hand and a flathead screwdriver, I was able to reach in and pop one of the bottom clips and once that clip was free I was able to wiggle the USB hub out without undoing the last clip. What comes next is relatively easy, you run the new cables through the glove box up to where the touchscreen is wrapping everything in sponge tape. Next I tested everything to make sure everything was working then zip tied the cables to parts of the interior so that they wouldn’t wiggle or rattle around. Note: you should take the ends of the old USB Hub cable and zip tie/sponge tape it to the new cable so that the loose connector doesn’t rattle around either. Closing everything back up in the opposite way it was installed I finally had CarPlay in my car.

Obviously, don’t be an idiot like me and brick your CMU and you could have this whole process done in 2-3 hours, but for the few who do I hope my experiences help. For the USB hub installation, it is more difficult when it’s in the front, but still only took and hour, plus I got to save my OEM Hub.

Again hope somebody can benefit from this!

 

Hi,
So I recently attempted and succeeded at upgrading my 2016 Mazda 3 GS with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. However my experience was not as smooth due to my ignorance, but with the help of many sources I got it figured out. I wanted to write this post to share my personal experience and to kind of put together the different posts that I used to figure this out.

Part 1: Firmware Update
My firmware version was 56.000.xxx on my original unit so I would only have to do the single update (2 files) to get to 70.000.100. I started off by following this guide on YouTube:

until I stupidly decided to turn the car off between the firmware update file and reinstall package. As many of you probably know this BRICKS your CMU and you will be left with a black screen and audio from the last radio station you had open.

Part 1b: Unbricking your CMU
So now I’ve bricked my CMU. There are people here who explain the situation way more in detail and properly compared to what my understanding is so look around if you want a run down of the problem. But now I had to take out the CMU. Which is nicely explained here:

Once I had the unit out, I undid ALL the screws which are a combination of phillips and torx 20 screws. (They are also cleverly color coded from Mazda) After taking out the torx screws I popped off the metal cover and revealed the SPI NOR flash chip:
View attachment 287640

this is the chip that you need to read and flash. As far as I found there are two ways to do this.
1. With a cheap USB programmer
2. With a raspberry pi
Your mileage may vary, but the USB programmer did not work AT ALL and I only succeeded when using the raspberry pi. This forum post (up above explains how to use the raspberry: Black Screen MZD

Here’s what happened to me. Because I did not have access to a raspberry pi I decided to try the USB Programmer method explained here:

This process requires you to erase the original contents of your chip after you do a backup. (DO A BACKUP) Now I’m not sure if it was because of the USB programmer, or if it was the test clips I was using but I had problems reading and writing and essentially ended up with corrupted files and an empty chip. So now is when I went for help. Find someone who not only has but KNOWS how to use a raspberry pi. In the video that uses the USB Programmer there is a link to a google drive in the description with a copy of the users own modified file of the flash chip. Essentially I used the raspberry to flash that file from the google drive onto my chip. It’s not crazy complicated, but you can use the code from the forum post above:

Black Screen MZD

Hello, today i wanted to install the v70. I pressed the Start-Stopp Button one time and successfully installed the failsafe package. After that i wanted to install the reinstall package but an error came up "Failed to validate package certificate". So i pressed the Start-Stopp Button another...

www.mazda3revolution.com

to achieve this. Go to the line where the user writes “Now it’s time to write the modified file to the flash” and in the line of code below replace “cmu-mod.bin” with the file name of the modified version posted in the Google Drive. You can verify if it worked by switching the file names in the other lines of code, but once I installed the CMU back into the car I was prompted to insert the USB containing my reinstall package to which the installation went off without a hitch. (Pressing the clutch (manual) every 15 minutes). , I was left with a successful update to firmware 70.000.100

Side note: I also tried various ways the attach the flash chip to the raspberry pi. Ideally, you get an SOC16 Test Clip, but there are pretty hard to find in Canada so I opted to use an SOC8 Test clip for half the connections and used individual test clips for the other half of the connections:
View attachment 287641



Part 2: Installing the USB Hub
So there are plenty of tutorials online for how to Install the USB Hub when it is located in the center armrest, but my hub was located in the front of the Center console under the climate controls making the removal of the old hub more difficult. There is the hack to drill through the 4 clips, but I decided to opt out of that wanting to save my OEM part. To my surprise, taking it out properly wasn’t that difficult despite the lack of tutorials online.

Essentially, I had to slide the entire center console back which is well shown in this video here:

Now I’m this video the guy gets to a point where he takes out completely the center console including the arm rest, I DID NOT have to do this. Once I had the center console slid back about 5 inches, I was able to reach in and undo the 2 top clips of the USB hub and get the top edge poking out of the hole while keeping tension. Next with my other hand and a flathead screwdriver, I was able to reach in and pop one of the bottom clips and once that clip was free I was able to wiggle the USB hub out without undoing the last clip. What comes next is relatively easy, you run the new cables through the glove box up to where the touchscreen is wrapping everything in sponge tape. Next I tested everything to make sure everything was working then zip tied the cables to parts of the interior so that they wouldn’t wiggle or rattle around. Note: you should take the ends of the old USB Hub cable and zip tie/sponge tape it to the new cable so that the loose connector doesn’t rattle around either. Closing everything back up in the opposite way it was installed I finally had CarPlay in my car.

Obviously, don’t be an idiot like me and brick your CMU and you could have this whole process done in 2-3 hours, but for the few who do I hope my experiences help. For the USB hub installation, it is more difficult when it’s in the front, but still only took and hour, plus I got to save my OEM Hub.

Again hope somebody can benefit from this!

How did you go about downloading the modified file to the raspberry pi? When I try to simply download it and change the command line to the name of the file, it says it cannot find the file. I have tried the ch341a programmer many times with both the clip and separate jumpers to verify my connection was good. I am in a constant boot loop on the firmware failure menu after my Mazda dealer bricked the system. A different mazda dealer said they were able to read the contents and said the dealer who did it accidentally downgraded me to v33 from v59 instead of upgrading like I requested. I have tried flashing v59, v70, v56, v31 .bin files to my chip with ch341a with no luck so I moved onto the raspberry pi. I modified the file as outlined in post on page 1 but still in a boot loop. Your method is the only one I have yet to try. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Check this out:
https://yms.livejournal.com/3007282.html
or this:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160605131255/http://www.2x4logic.com:80/invokefailsafe.html

;-)

 

Hello in the image with the CMU back/breadboard/raspberry PI what is the thing that is attached to the bottom of the breadboard? Is that necessary for this to work?

 

you can contact me at email/fb : suvientinh[@]gmail.com
im happy to help
ps: sorry i cant edit my post

 

Hi Raoulh,

I flipped the bit as per your instruction above, install the latest firmware and the CarPlay cable and USB unit and I have it all up an running.

Many thanks for everyone's instructions... worked like a charm.

Thanks,

Vio

 

Sorry for the delay, funny, this is the 3rd or 4th failed EU version 56.00.513B I've seen, please try this file I'm attaching it should work, rename to *.bin. Difference with original are some stored settings in NV and also version name somehow it was renamed to "reinstall.up" maybe the user run that first instead of failsafe.up.

 

You should press READ first and save buffer to file. just in case.
Load file you'd want to be programmed and press in this order ERASE wait WRITE wait VERIFY.
Chip needs to be blank in order to be written.

 

Ok so i worked out the problem. I think it was a faulty wired SOC16 alligator clip/adapter not contacting the chip properly, or the wiring was wrong. I used another un-wired SOC16 clip - it fitted onto chip snugly first go, unlike the other poor quality one. Then i connected the required 8 wires to the ch314a manually. To be safe i also installed a different set of ch314a drivers and downloaded newer ch314a software (version 2 something).

It worked. I have unsuccessfully unbricked my spare 2 cmu's. Hurrah!

For some reason my car's usb port wouldn't recognise the 70.00.352 update files straight off (it worked fine though when i got to this point twice before) so i tried an older 70.00.100 file (2 files actually) and it worked fine.

So i installed 70.00.100 to both cmu's. Using the "hidden diagnostic menu" i typed 99 which made it search for an update file on the usb ports, which was on my usb drive. Installed 70.00.352 on both cmu's fine.

Thanks folks for all your help!

Only problem now is when it said "turn ignition off then back on to complete installation" etc, the text in PuTTY didn't stop rolling like it did before. So despite many attempts i was unable to right-click (paste) the copied command text to start the tweaks process. Also all the text flying by was garbled characters, not the legible text you usually see. Did it on both. Not sure why this changed or what it means. The updates worked, i just couldn't run the tweaks file.

So i don't upset anyone i will discuss it further in this tweaks thread:

AIO - All-In-One tweaks

The new version of AIO V2! This time for Windows 😁 This new version was not created by me, but by user @Trezdog44 and is under development for several months now. New Features in 2.0: Completely Rebuilt Desktop App GUI. Ability to install and uninstall tweaks in the same installation (Be...

www.mazda3revolution.com

 

After trying to upgrade from 56.00.240 straight to 74.00.311 I made cmu brick. I followed this tutorial, changed FF to 00

I plugged in the usb to install the firmware 70.00.100 like in the video, but the system shows verifying package and then rebooting, then verifying again, … Someone help me pls

 

External bench setup (CX-5 KE Display/MZD):

Wiring diagrams I used can be found here:

CMU Connectors

Hi everyone, I'm trying to create my own harness for experimenting with the CMU outside the car (it's easier and safer). So far, I've managed to identify the following plugs: CMU 2xUSB: Hirose GT17HN-4/4DP-2H(BC) on the PCB with a GT17HNS2-4DS-ASSY KEY B connector for the USB and KEY C for the...

www.mazda3revolution.com

Another finding that might be helpful (maybe you have to auto-translate it e.g. via Google Chrome Browser, as it is in Thai):

How to power on CMU

วิธีเซต CMU ไว้ใช้ทดลองในบ้าน เป็นวิธีที่ต่อสายไฟแบบใช้สายน้อยที่สุด ข้อมูลนี้ไม่อาจใช้เป็นข้อมูลอ้างอิงได้ หากต้องการข้อมูลถูกต้องสมบูรณ์โปรดอ้างอิงจากคู่มือรถ เครื่องมือ CMU+Cable(Parts. BHP1 66 …

mzdonline.wordpress.com

 

Update: my CMU is working again! It seems my .bin file was corrupted or wrong. First time when I started the upgrade I had failsafe and reinstallation files with wrong checksums and maybe this wrong failsafe stored in Flash Memory. Later when I had the correct FW, the update failed again. Also the Testclip caused a lot of headache due to the wrong contacts. I measured 4-5 times the wires with multimeter to get the good contact, everything looked perfect but reprogramming the Flash Memory failed (I have 2 sets of Testclips and adapters). Finally I soldered the wires directly to the chip, corrected .bin file uploaded (Trafmaster sent me a perfect rescue .bin, thank you!) to Flash Memory and success!

 

Is there any chance i could get ahold of the rescue .bin? I'm in a 2%-3% boot loop on fail safe trying to get from 59.00.504 4A N to 70.00.100A

 

Warning, anyone posting corporate links will be banned.
You guys know what that means, links that are not freely or publicly made available to the general public.

 

@ASH8 : Sorry, I copied the links from another forum and thought as they are known in the wild it would have been OK. Anyway, I learned that it is not OK and I understand and accept your reaction and will stick to it.

@penguinairlines :

Changelog of firmware- up to latest 74.00.324: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10226834-0001.pdf

AIO Tweaks - here are some short info:
a) If below 59.00.502 - just install the ID7/Autorun Tweak from AIO
b) If between 59.00.502 and 70.00.100 (including these two), you have to use ID7 serial connection: www.mazdatweaks.com/serial . For a) and b) the ID7/Autorun tweak will remain if you update up to/including 70.00.100.
c) For 70.00.335 and 70.00.352 you have to use ID7v2 serial access: www.mazdatweaks.com/id7
d) For other/higher firmware nothing is published how to enable it to install AIO tweaks.

As this is the wrong thread for AIO Tweaks, please keep this thread at its original topic and do not ask follow up questions here - search for other more fitting threads. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the useful information Tristan, and for your DM.

Any chance you also have information about MD5 hashes for these? I searched for things like "cmu150_NA_70.00.100A_failsafe.up md5" and am not coming up with any results on this forum.

 

CHIP is not corrupted, your system is already in recovery mode and waiting for a specific point in memory to continue the installation. There's a very small chance it'll find it. Invoking fail-safe recovery by changing a byte to the 0x10000 address won't make a difference.
If you instead end up with a Black Screen there's a good possibility to recover it.
I recovered a few, but only on the bench. It was impossible to do it in the car. No, I don't have a system. I have to try many versions from several regions until one erased NAND recovery point and completed the installation.

 

Yes you can, it's a faster chip. -10 : 104Mhz, -12 : 86Mhz, EMI = Industrial (-40C - 85C) EMR = Automotive (-40C - 105C). Yes, EMR got a better temperature range but I don't think is an issue.

A few years ago, I bought a bag of ten EMI -10G from Aliexpress. They were extracted from surplus equipment (Epson printer), but they flashed just fine by attaching the chip right into the clip (not solder).

 

Thank you very much for your reply

 

Thank you all for all the information in this thread. It’s been a live saver for my Mazda CMU.

I’ll summarize my case, maybe it helps anyone.
Starting point: My car, Mazda 6 SW 2016 EU (Spain). Version 56 00 230 EU installed and AIO tweaks installed. I tried to upgrade to latest version to install USB module.
1st mistake: AIO tweaks remained installed. YOU DO always must remove AIO tweaks before updating. They made my failsafe installation fail.
2st mistake: I stop installation midway. YO DO always install failsafe & update (if your version requires both) with your system ON. Don’t switch car off midway.

After 1st and 2nd mistake, my CMU was bricked, screen black and nothing worked ( just the radio….). Panic!
Thanks to this thread and after some struggle I managed to recover it.
PLEASE DO read this thread (more than once) and understand all the procedures. I did it and for me, after a few tries and failures, it worked :
1st.- I reprogrammed my CMU with a USB programmer. I followed video mentioned in post #96 and I used rom rom-513B.bin
2nd after that, I installed cmu150_EU_59.00.502A_reinstall.up

After 1 & 2 my system came back to live! After that, I did all the right things I should have done in the first place. I cleaned my system, removed all tweaks , did a factory reset and procced to a clean install of cmu150_EU_74.00.324A_update.up

Thanks again

 

Hello, can you send me the cmu150_EU_59.00.502A_reinstall.up file, please? I'm in the same situation but it's not completely bricked and I want to test if reinstalling the same version I have can fix it. Thank you very much for sharing, regards.