RNS-D coding (especially for Bose)
 

Can anyone point me at (or supply) a guide to coding RNS-D. I've had a good look round and can't find anything still online.
In particular I want to know how to turn Bose on and off. And anything else of interest.

Reason is I'm playing with my RNS-D to try and resolve some problems and now have a "selection" of components/units that I'm swapping. But some are from a Bose system and my car is non-Bose so using them I get minimal sound output. :(

Might be easiest to pull the soft coding from your original unit and just copy that across? Had to do that with our a6. Either that or vcds should try and lead you through coding it correctly

Bose 0xx9xxx
Non Bose will have something else instead of 9, like 5.

Thanks, but... I may be being dumb but where is that? :Confused:
Is it some weird key combination on the RNS to access a hidden menu, or an adaptation channel somewhere that I can access/change with VCDS?

Software coding with VCDS

Hmm, went and plugged in VCDS and looked at the Soft Coding field in both the Radio and Navigation controllers.

Radio said something like 1740, no idea what that means.
Nav said something like "Inv. Msg. Len."

I'll check again tomorrow, maybe that's a communication problem?

I have RNS-D with Bose, let me dig out the coding from a scan. The coding is extracted from the unit I got from Ranj, I have not altered it since the car it was removed from had Bose.

Address 37: Navigation
Part No: 4D0 035 192 M
Component: RNS 4.2 H06 BNO 0140
VCID: 295DF997F969

Address 56: Radio
Part No: 4D0 035 192 M
Component: Radio BNO 0001
Coding: 00017
Shop #: WSC 00976
VCID: 295DF997F969

Thanks, my car is non-Bose and looking at some saved scans I can see that the Radio was generally 00207 (since I got the car) though I have one scan of 00117 though I'm not 100% sure what unit that was. :Confused:

Anyone know what those codes mean?

My memory may be faulty, that was probably 00117. :o

I dont know if this thread helps.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...t-Needs-coding

You need to be registered to download the PDF.

Thanks for that, will have a look sometime (unless someone here already has that info).
Meanwhile I just changed 00117 to 00207 and the front speakers burst into life. +++

OK, I've got the coding table, here's a sort of interpretation:

Radio soft code is 5 digits, all are binary values from 0 to 7.
The three options within each field are valued at 1, 2 or 4 (for on) and are added to give the value. Standard binary stuff.

First digit = 0
Second digit = 0 for A8 or Bose (Sound curve, uses other values for other models without Bose, e.g. A6-C5 is 2)
3rd digit = FaderOff(1), BoseDisplay(2), ActiveAmpPhoneDeactivate(4)
4th digit = Navigation(1), Telephone(2), VCS(4)
5th digit = DiversityBox(1), CDchanger(2), MFSW(4)

Not sure that makes sense of my 00117 and 00207 codes though.:Confused:

Be aware that USA coding seems to be nowhere near the same as Europe. I found coding values quoted for our A6 that were completely off the wall compared to what it should be!

I read the code off the A6 stereo to know what to change it for, but when I got in to the soft code entering page it came up with a guided list of each number to enter which tallied with what I had from the old one

HP, what ELSA suggests?

Good point - forgot it was in there! Attached....

Now that makes much more sense. +++
The coding I have is in your document as MY02 onwards.
The "up to MY 01" seems to make total sense on all the kit I have, even though my car is a D2 made in 2002 (registered 2003!).

00117 is pretty standard Bose. 00207 is standard non-Bose with powered rear speakers. 00507 would be for unpowered rear speakers.

Given my rear speakers are so useless I wonder if they are powered or not - will have a look tomorrow if it's not raining. +++
I have the fader set heavily to the rear to compensate. :rolleyes:
(I had the covers off when fitting the ski hatch but didn't inspect the wiring :( )

Edit: Thinking about it, the rear speakers were working when coded for Bose, so that suggests that they are indeed powered. Odd they're so quiet though. :Confused:

That's for a Bose system without telephone. :cool:

Would it be too much of a risk to change the coding to unpowered? Obviously I'd change the fader to minimise the rear first. :rolleyes:
What sort of voltages are used in each case - anyone know?

I think if you code RNS-D 'non-BOSE' you won't hear anything since in BOSE config RNS-D send L and R signal to BOSE amp via line-out pins and doesn't use normal directly connected speaker pins. If your car had BOSE from day one your speaker pins are not connected. The sound goes from RNS-D pre-amp via line-out pins to BOSE amp in your boot.

Well yes, but non-Bose mostly still use amplifiers for the rear speakers. Which is why it's an option in the coding tables for RNS-D.
The amplified speakers have extra wires as the amps are in the housing under the parcel shelf. And according to one source I read they then feed the rear door speakers.

The FACT that I had sound from my rear speakers (door & shelf, but not front door) with Bose coded in the RNS supports that.
Which connections are used from the RNS I don't know, but it would make sense for the fronts to use the powered connections and rears to use the lineout ones in that "mixed" configuration.

Was your car manufactured as BOSE car?

No, but the RNS in it at the moment came from a Bose car, hence the initial question.
The previous RNS was coded "2" (passive front, active rear) whereas this was coded "1" initially and gave no front output.

Could you please explain the problem you're trying to solve? I understand it that on non-BOSE car parcel shelf speakers don't work.

If this is the problem why you're trying to change the RNS-D? If you need to change RNS-D to solve other non-related problem I'd finish with that problem and then I'd code RNS-D for non-BOSE properly and then check wiring for amplified rear shelf speakers. I'd trace each pin on the back of RNS-D to amplifiers.

No disrespect, but I'd also stop reading anything but ELSA. All other sources are unreliable. See attached PDFed wiring diagram for RNS-D for 2002 cars. Just study what pins on the back of RNS-D are involved in non-bose setup. Then understand who amplifies what. And then do experiments.

No, they work fine and are amplified. If they don't it could be incorrect coding in the RNS or incorrect wiring from an aftermarket unit.

As I said earlier:
The problems are not related to speakers or Bose, but swapping units changes things as they're all coded differently. So I'm trying to remove these incidental changes to concentrate on the real problems, which are mostly Navigation-related. ;)

But being inquisitive I'm interested to understand the RNS-D setup, rather than just copying another one. Though you do have to know what to copy....

PS Thanks for the PDF, looks interesting. On a quick look I did spot units R43 and R44 which I think are the amplifier/bass speaker units in the parcel shelf that I think I have.
(as the relevant note says - Models with 10 loudspeakers)

Oh I see now. I don't have experience with non-BOSE cars. My car was BOSE from factory and then I upgraded RND-D to RNS-E at early stage of ownership, so all my non-BOSE knowledge comes from reading ELSA.

I've learned a lot too. ;)
I had assumed that on a non-Bose car the RNS provided all the power (overheating is one of my issues) whereas in reality it looks like it only powers the front speakers - on 10-speakers systems at least.
The rest are fed via the rear line-out connectors to amplifiers on each of the parcel-shelf speakers and they in turn feed the rear doors.

That rear setup is however, rather underpowered, especially compared to Bose. :(

Another thing I noticed when I upgraded my BOSE car form RNS-D to RNS-E is that sound quality became better. Perhaps RNS-E has better internal amps. Something I didn't expect as I was assuming the sound quality is mostly determined by BOSE amp in the boot and BOSE speakers which remained the same. It seems RNS-E manages to drive BOSE system better then RNS-D. Apologies for sidetracking initial theme of this thread.

No sidetrack, initial objective is accomplished. +++ Additional information always welcome.

I think you may be right. :o

Checking more carefully, there is no sound coming from the rear shelf speakers, just the rear doors. :Confused:
Now, the RNS-D I currently have installed had out-of-date software and I upgraded it, so not sure if that's relevant.
It won't accept the 00507 coding at all so is currently on 00207, same as the original system that came with the car. With the Bose coding of 00117 it's the same in the rear (but no front).

So can anyone confirm this is the case, or point me to something to check or configure? Just looking quickly in the boot it certainly looks like there are speaker units in there, but I haven't taken the covers off this time. (I did take the right cover off when fitting the ski hatch and am sure I saw a speaker cone in there)

Could it even be an earthing or power supply problem for the rear shelf speakers?

Edit: I have checked the fuses in the boot, there is a 20A one there that is listed as covering radio/phone/speakers and it is fine.

I've split this subject of silent speakers to a new thread here: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthrea...4102#post64102

Just to summarise my findings, as noted in the other thread:
1. The rear shelf speakers are actually working but very faint, rear doors are also weak.
2. To get any decent sound at all requires the Fader set heavily rearwards and Bass level raised.
3. Recoding (soft coding of Radio via VCDS) to 02207 has improved the sound hugely, bass is now noticeable from the rear shelf and it's much "richer" all round.

I believe setting the second digit to 2 is for A6/C5 (0 = A8/D2), though it's not well-documented online. This supposedly alters the "sound curve". :Confused:
(Other values for that 2nd digit are 1 (A4/B6), 3 (A4/B6 cabrio), 4 (TT) and 5 (A2?) - anyone want to test them?)