'02 - '03 Navi Question - Can't Input Address

[branshew]

I've been puttering around with the new ride for a few days and I have started toying around with the Navi. I was going to input my home address as the pre-set home, but it seems as though I can't input an address. I am following the manual page by page. When I go to the settings page and choose the option to set my home point it shifts to another screen with Address, POI, etc listed (to give me a choice of how I want to input the Home point). I press the "Address" icon and it beeps to confirm the selection, but the screen doesn't change to where I can input an address. It h=just stays where it is. I also don't see a map or region and the "Change" button is missing on the screen (I am basing this off of what I see on the screen shots in the manual). I get the same thing if I go to enter an address as a destination for route guidance.

The car was originally used in a different geographic map zone before I bought it. Do I need to re-load the Navi DVD (it is still the original 2001 version) or do I have something else going on. Is there a way to do a master re-set?

[kashi125]

The fact that the car was used in a different geographic zone shouldn't matter.

If you click on "Dest" tab, in the screen that comes up, is the address button grayed out or can you click it? I have seen this problem (grayed out address, POI buttons etc) in older cars where dust has accumulated on the lens and it has problems reading the DVD. Using a CD/DVD lens cleaner CD from BestBuy solved the problem on my friend's car. It is a special CD with small bristles on it, as it rotates, the bristles clean the dust off the lens. You might want to give that a shot.

[branshew]

The fact that the car was used in a different geographic zone shouldn't matter.

If you click on "Dest" tab, in the screen that comes up, is the address button grayed out or can you click it? I have seen this problem (grayed out address, POI buttons etc) in older cars where dust has accumulated on the lens and it has problems reading the DVD. Using a CD/DVD lens cleaner CD from BestBuy solved the problem on my friend's car. It is a special CD with small bristles on it, as it rotates, the bristles clean the dust off the lens. You might want to give that a shot.

I can press the Address button, and it beeps to indicate that I have touched it, but it doesn't change screens to bring up the keyboard so I can input the address.

It seems like a software problem. How does the nav work? Is there software/firmware inside the drive unit or is the OS on the DVD? Is it possible to re-boot or reload the OS? Will a more recent DVD have a newer OS on it? I was considering getting a more recent DVD version, but I don't want to spend the money on it if I have another issue going on that needs fixing first.

[kashi125]

From what I understand, the OS/firmware/software is loaded into the nav unit and the only thing it reads off the DVD is the map data. This is why once you load a newer version of the software, you can not use an older DVD.

I would go about fixing it in this order:

1) Buy the lens cleaner CD that I mentioned in the previous post. Let it do its job and then see if the nav works.

2) If above doesn't work, buy a newer version of the Nav DVD. This is for your 2002 ES300, right? You will want a Gen 2/3 DVD. It doesn't have to be the latest version (8.1). You can buy version 4 or 5 etc if you can find one on eBay and it should be pretty cheap since that is ~5 years old. Still, it will be newer than the one you have in your car right now from 2001.

I don't recommend jumping straight to step 2, because if your lens is dirty, a newer DVD won't do you any good.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[branshew]

From what I understand, the OS/firmware/software is loaded into the nav unit and the only thing it reads off the DVD is the map data. This is why once you load a newer version of the software, you can not use an older DVD.

I would go about fixing it in this order:

1) Buy the lens cleaner CD that I mentioned in the previous post. Let it do its job and then see if the nav works.

2) If above doesn't work, buy a newer version of the Nav DVD. This is for your 2002 ES300, right? You will want a Gen 2/3 DVD. It doesn't have to be the latest version (8.1). You can buy version 4 or 5 etc if you can find one on eBay and it should be pretty cheap since that is ~5 years old. Still, it will be newer than the one you have in your car right now from 2001.

I don't recommend jumping straight to step 2, because if your lens is dirty, a newer DVD won't do you any good.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I may have access to a 2.1 nav cd that I can try in my drive to eliminate the disc as the problem. I pulled mine out and there was a groove worn in it and when i put it into my laptop, I couldn't read some of the files. I am somewhat hesitant to try the cleaning as I have read that the older nav units laser drive motors to go out eventually. I don't want to put any stress on it yet. I am also wondering what would have caused the groove and wheter or not that may eventually happen to a new disc.

I'll post results as soon as I can.

[branshew]

Interesting update -

I took the navi disc (same version as mine) out of another Lexus and I put it into my DVD unit as a test to help me isolate the problem. Everything came up just fine and I was able to input an address. I took the borrowed disc out and put my old one back in and I am now able to input an address, mark points, etc. with the old disc in. Seems like it just needed a little kick start...

I'll leave it as is for now and see how long it lasts, but it's good to know that it was a problem with the disc and not with the navi unit itself.

[kashi125]

Awesome! Glad to know it worked out.