Map Updates

guinchy · September 18

Checked into My Lexus on my PC and saw that there was a free map update available, namely "Spring 2024 update for Map database of LEXUS LINK" I bought a new USB and downloaded the instruction booklet first then successfully got the update. Yet as soon as I try to apply the update I'm told to contact the dealership. When I bought the car, the rep could only explain about using my phone for maps and navigation which I'd rather not do, I had to set up the navigation system myself.

Deejzer · September 18

Can you not do a OTA update on your touchscreen, go into settings and see if there is an update available.

guinchy · September 24

This is the reply I have just received from Lexus about my map updates query. I'm booked in tomorrow for it to be done.

Dear Paul,

Thank you for your email.

We are undergoing maintenance issues with the Lexus eStore website page, the map update cannot be downloaded from the Lexus Customer Portal.

Your cloud based navigation system is updated 24 times a year and this occurs automatically when the update becomes available.

If you were to initiate an update through the settings screen and you did not have a USB connected with an update file, the system will display the message "problem with map update. Please contact your dealer."

We do appreciate this message is confusing but the decision to display the message like this comes from Toyota Japan and is not something we have any influence over unfortunately.

You will need to contact and visit your local Lexus Centre to arrange a map update to be carried out.

This is the latest version available: 12-24-06[2023-11-6] (V24.00.06 data)

rpad · September 25

Last week I checked the Lexus site and it came with this update: ISA_Map_L1_T1_EDA_Spring_2024.zip (apparently speed signs update). How to install? The zip contains an folder 'MAPUPDATE' then a folder 'ALL' and then a folder 'DB' and 2 *.dat files. Should I copy the ZIP to an USB or unzip the file to an USB stick?

guinchy · September 25

Hi Roy, there is a small guide available to download with the file that explains what to do and I'd recommend getting it. For info though, you are to copy the unzipped file to the USB key. Good luck

rpad · September 30

On 9/25/2024 at 8:48 AM, rpad said:

Last week I checked the Lexus site and it came with this update: ISA_Map_L1_T1_EDA_Spring_2024.zip (apparently speed signs update). How to install? The zip contains an folder 'MAPUPDATE' then a folder 'ALL' and then a folder 'DB' and 2 *.dat files. Should I copy the ZIP to an USB or unzip the file to an USB stick?

Apparently is was a normal map update (4 GB), installation was less than 15 minutes. Not many differences unfortunately.

RobRob · October 1

I'm unsure from the Lexus reply to guinchy if the update is necessary or just provides a new baselevel for the automatic updates. My car has version 25-23-45[2023-03-5] even though it left the factory this summer. However the My Lexus E-Store showed me the update for my LBX and so I tried it. It took some faffing to download because the store requires two codes from the car, logged me out while I was getting them and then failed when I tried to use them without telling me I was logged out.

The E-Store didn't inspire confidence - clicking Help on one screen shows “Help not present label” (sic) and the final shopping basket screen with the download links and licence key was badly formatted with overlapping texts.

I followed the instructions carefully to put the update on a USB stick. However in the car Settings > Navigation > Update still reports “Problem with map update. Please contact your dealer.” instantly with the USB stick plugged in. I never got as far as the step that requires the licence key from the E-Store. rpad did you have to do anything else to get the update to work?

rpad · October 1

The e-store isn't a very nice page indeed, however I have managed to unzip the file to usb and the the installatian was easy. Make sure the usb is fat32 formatted en contains the folder: mapdata.

RobRob · October 1

56 minutes ago, rpad said:

The e-store isn't a very nice page indeed, however I have managed to unzip the file to usb and the the installatian was easy. Make sure the usb is fat32 formatted en contains the folder: mapdata.

Yes it’s FAT32. But do you really mean “mapdata”? The guide says “MAPUPDATE” which is the name of the top folder in download?

I don’t think the name of the USB volume should matter, but what did you call it?

rpad · October 2

10 hours ago, RobRob said:

Yes it’s FAT32. But do you really mean “mapdata”? The guide says “MAPUPDATE” which is the name of the top folder in download?

I don’t think the name of the USB volume should matter, but what did you call it?

Yup I mean MAPUPDATE 😅 Name of the usb volume is not important, no idea how i named it. However before I unzip it I have formatted the USB with a different allocation unit size (8 kbyte - 8192 bytes) then standard. Have read it somewehere, don't know if it's neccassary because mp3 usb are read perfectly with normal allocation sizes (manual)

guinchy · October 2

13 hours ago, RobRob said:

I'm unsure from the Lexus reply to guinchy if the update is necessary or just provides a new baselevel for the automatic updates. My car has version 25-23-45[2023-03-5] even though it left the factory this summer. However the My Lexus E-Store showed me the update for my LBX and so I tried it. It took some faffing to download because the store requires two codes from the car, logged me out while I was getting them and then failed when I tried to use them without telling me I was logged out.

The E-Store didn't inspire confidence - clicking Help on one screen shows “Help not present label” (sic) and the final shopping basket screen with the download links and licence key was badly formatted with overlapping texts.

I followed the instructions carefully to put the update on a USB stick. However in the car Settings > Navigation > Update still reports “Problem with map update. Please contact your dealer.” instantly with the USB stick plugged in. I never got as far as the step that requires the licence key from the E-Store. rpad did you have to do anything else to get the update to work?

Hi Rob, it is a complete dog's dinner in my opinion. I took my USB to the dealership last Wednesday together with the necessary codes. After trying to load the USB, the mechanic came back and said that my version (the same as yours) was out of date and needed updating. But he said that the codes on my car didn't correspond (?) so he would have to overwrite my version with the latest. Off he goes to download the latest version from his computer. 2 hours later he comes back and said his computer was going to take a further 4 hours! I couldn't believe it. So I had to come home (it is a 40 mile round trip) and went back again on Monday. Another long wait after the receptionist had forgotten to say why I was there. Eventually, after another 90 minutes wait I got the car back. I have no faith in my dealership about this.

Anyhow, the version I have now is 25-24-06 (2023-11-6) When I click on updates within the navigation section, I again get the message "problem with map update. Please contact your dealer." which doesn't fill me with any confidence. If the system is fully up to date, surely it should say so or say no updates required.

As it stands now, I don't know if Spring Update is on my car or not, I doubt my dealership knows either!

rpad · October 2

48 minutes ago, guinchy said:

...

Anyhow, the version I have now is 25-24-06 (2023-11-6) When I click on updates within the navigation section, I again get the message "problem with map update. Please contact your dealer." which doesn't fill me with any confidence. If the system is fully up to date, surely it should say so or say no updates required.

As it stands now, I don't know if Spring Update is on my car or not, I doubt my dealership knows either!

The message is correct, because there is no usb attached with an map update.

From: https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/about-my-lexus/multimedia

"How do I get a map update?

Over-the-air map updates are possible with the latest multimedia systems, activated in the e-Store for the latest compatible models.
You can also manually update your system by downloading updates from the Lexus e-Store, and putting them on a USB stick, and connecting it to your car. "

Above explanation is neither right nor wrong . .

RobRob · October 2

9 hours ago, rpad said:

However before I unzip it I have formatted the USB with a different allocation unit size (8 kbyte - 8192 bytes) then standard. Have read it somewehere, don't know if it's neccassary because mp3 usb are read perfectly with normal allocation sizes (manual)

Thanks! I formatted my USB on a MacBook which doesn't have an option for allocation unit size and probably uses a different default to Windows. So I really thought that could be the problem. I found a different utility to format the USB with specified allocation units but it still didn't work :-(. Last resort will be to borrow a Windows PC and format it there.

RobRob · October 2

8 hours ago, guinchy said:

As it stands now, I don't know if Spring Update is on my car or not, I doubt my dealership knows either!

Although the e-Store calls it a Spring Update, all the files in the download except three small ones are dated November 2023. So I'm sure you have the latest installed now.

I don't know that I'd blame the dealer. It's clearly not a robust process, with 15,000 files in the update, and even the instruction file name "mapupdatelexus-mm21pdf.pdf" (pdf twice), header "PROTECTED", footer "Sensitivity: Company" suggest to me as a retired software engineer that the work hasn't been done by people working to the highest standard. It's a strange contrast with the top level engineering it must take to do things like lane guidance and engine management that the online stuff all seems a bit amateurish.

I can barely imagine the depth of skill and work that it must take to put a safe reliable car on the road, but when it comes to the e-store and even the Lexus Link+ app I start to think I could almost have done better myself.

guinchy · October 3

Thank you for your input Rob, much appreciated and helpful.

RobRob · October 3

Well, I wish I'd never started on this. I was using a 64GB USB-C stick. The manual says "USB key must have a storage capacity of at least 32GB. USB key must be formatted to FAT32." When I got brief access to a Windows PC I found that Windows does not support formatting devices over 32GB to FAT32!

So I tried another tack. Found a 32GB USB-A stick and USB-C adaptor, and formatted on my MacBook using a command line utility that allowed me to set the allocation unit size. I chose 16k as that is apparently the Windows default for that size device. (The 8k shown in the manual is the default size for the 14.6GB device shown.) I also took care to unzip the download direct to the stick, because that is what the manual showed. Requested the update in the car, and it started! After inputting the licence, and then turning the car off and on as prompted, the process ran until it was showing 1 minute left.

Then "Error occurred during map update. Please contact your dealer." Nothing I can do takes it out of a loop that either shows "Downloading map data ..." with 1 minute to go (if the stick is connected), or "Media removed. Update suspended." (if the stick is out). :-(.

This is the final straw for me trying to understand the car. In the short time I've had it, I've tried to tackle but failed on:

Lexus Link+ "doors unlocked warnings" not cancelled for days after briefly walking a few feet from the car.
"Cannot synch profile" warnings at random.
Occasional loading of my wife's settings when I'm getting in as driver.
Intrusive warning about unlocking doors when transmission in Park, otherwise no-one can get out until I open my door (and sometimes not even then).
Having to explain to new passengers how to open their door, and half of them failing to understand.
Intrusive passenger and rear seat reminder, that needs a button pressing every time to avoid beeping when doors locked.
Couldn't cancel driver break suggestion (possibly just because the info on how to cancel it was too imprecise to follow while driving).
Advertised features of Lexus Link+ not implemented, and other features like trips and car location erratic.
Map update offered to me on My Lexus, but too fiddly for consumer use and ultimately left me without a working satnav.

In summary I'm coming to accept that it is mostly good but in some ways utterly crap.

NemesisUK · October 3

22 minutes ago, RobRob said:

When I got brief access to a Windows PC I found that Windows does not support formatting devices over 32GB to FAT32!

You need to use a third party formatting app. Google is your friend

I have successfully formatted a 256GB drive for use in my car using Rufus

RobRob · October 3

7 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

You need to use a third party formatting app. Google is your friend

I have successfully formatted a 256GB drive for use in my car using Rufus

Indeed. Rufus is for Windows, but I found a command line one for MacOS. My point was that the Lexus manual is misleading - it recommends drives over 32GB but describes using the Windows utility that doesn’t support them! I wonder if the manual meant to specify drives of 32GB or less.

NemesisUK · October 3

2 hours ago, RobRob said:

Indeed. Rufus is for Windows, but I found a command line one for MacOS. My point was that the Lexus manual is misleading - it recommends drives over 32GB but describes using the Windows utility that doesn’t support them! I wonder if the manual meant to specify drives of 32GB or less.

From the owner's handbook

From the owner's Navigation manual, it would seem format be it 16 or 32, the limit is still 32GB

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/148575-usb-drive-format/?do=findComment&comment=1363436

Aelod · October 4

I fell foul of the map update issue, even though I had formatted a 64GB drive as a FAT32 on a MacBook. The “update” left the navigation system in limbo, waiting for a correctly set up flash drive to be inserted. Most systems reverted to the original system if an update fails, but not this clunky update mechanism. With no maps in the system, the speed restriction sign recognition system shut down, with its error message obscuring the middle of the dash display. Even if that was closed, it simply reappeared. Following the suggestions above, I used Rufus on a Windows 10 PC to reformat the 64GB drive, and bingo the map system updated in about 15 minutes. And it does appear to have updated something, local road that had the wrong speed limit using the original map software now appear to have the correct limits.

Armin25 · October 7

Morning

I am about to place an order for a Premium Plus. I understand that I get three years access to the navigation stuff. After 3 years, if I don't pay up to renew can I still use the Lexus navigation. I understand I won't get updates and access to POI etc.

Thanks

Tickedon · October 7

4 hours ago, Armin25 said:

Morning

I am about to place an order for a Premium Plus. I understand that I get three years access to the navigation stuff. After 3 years, if I don't pay up to renew can I still use the Lexus navigation. I understand I won't get updates and access to POI etc.

Thanks

It’s actually 4 years for most functions and 7 years of map updates (LBX has the latest MM21 system):

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/about-my-lexus/lexus-link-plus-app/faq?hideNav=true&hideFooter=true#:~:text=The first 3 years* (may vary by country) of Multimedia

Armin25 · October 8

so after the four years the nav will work and get map updates until yr 7. I aim to keep the car for the 10 years, so after yr 7 I will not get map updates but can still the nav. Am I correct?

thanks again

Steve

Tickedon · October 8

6 hours ago, Armin25 said:

so after the four years the nav will work and get map updates until yr 7. I aim to keep the car for the 10 years, so after yr 7 I will not get map updates but can still the nav. Am I correct?

thanks again

Steve

Yes. And likely you’ll be able to pay Lexus for updates / functionality beyond the 4 and 7 years.