Discussion Becker Cascade V6.0 Map update ENG

Hello,

I hope that someone can help me.

I have bought a Becker 7945 on Ebay.

The device works fine, however it did not came with a CD or a CF card.

I am also unsure which version of the software is installed on the device.

When I press the Navi button it keeps asking for the CD.

My brother in law has a Becker 7949 with a working CF card, I am not sure which version he has but I know he has not updated in years.

I tried to use his CF card in my 7945 but it does not recognise the card, or at least the device keeps asking for the CD when I press the navi button.

I can play MP3's from a different CF card without a problem.

I assume my software version must be really old as it keeps asking for a CD and it does not recognise the CF card, which will also be at least 7 years old.

So I decided to look for an update, which brought me to this forum.

I have downloaded V6 and burned the update CD.

When I insert the CD it asks me if I want to update, but when I press 'yes' it tells me the update is not possible.

I have read through the posts on this forum(which are almost all in German and my German is really limited) and it seems likes some say it's not possible to update to V6 straight away. You would need to update to V4 or V5 first in order to install V6. Can someone please confirm to me if this is the really case? Or did I perhaps do something else wrong? In case you do need to install V4 or V5 first, can someone then please provide me with a download link for one of these versions, as I can't seem to find one.

Secondly since I have no original CF card I need to purchase a new one. I am about to buy the Sandisk 16GB Ultra 50mb/s. Can someone please confirm if this card will work in my 7945 ? Are there special installation instructions for a new card to be found somewhere(which format FAT32 or FAT16?, Partitions? etc)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks for any reply.

I think I can give you a hand!
The Becker 794X Family Uses a combination of a System CD and a CF Card with the map Data on it. The CD you can remove after the update. The CF card needs to stay in the slot.
Harmanbecker V6 for the cascade, cascade pro , México and the 794X Family is what you Need. On eBay they Software is sometimes less than the 199 Euro on the Here Company's Website.
You Need a V6 System CD and the proper CF Card.
Version of the CF Card and the System CD need to fit together.
CD's can be used from car manufactures like Ferrari etc but the CF Card need to fit to the radio. That means you cannot easily use a Ferrari CF card in an original Becker radio (original Becker radios show ' Becker' on the central slide button whereas Ferrari sat navs show 'Ferrari ' on the button to express it simple). Make sure that you have a sat nav radio that says 'Becker' on the central button.
In all cases you want to Test a Bit on the Software and Not Buy the Original Software (what i Highly recommend to do) at this Stage of coming to a conclusion:
A 4GB sandisk extreme Ducati and 4GB and 8 GB sandisk Ultra CF cards work Definitively. There is no need to buy a larger CF card Since you will Loose all additional Space anyway Since V6 is a 4GB CF Card. It is a Fat32 format. It has three partitions. :
Header of the Disk 32kb
Partition 1 (fat32) 3.7 GB
Unpartioned Space ( with magictext : HARMANBECKER BECKER V6 and a 0A at the end
Than a unpartionable Space (that contains nothing in case of the original Becker Sat Nav software as far as I know )

There is a good description incl software download at #1 of this thread.
But you need a CF card Reader/writer and Hex reading /writing software !

Many thanks for your detailed reply !

I was looking for a 16GB card so I could also put a lot of music on it. But I will just get myself a 4GB card first to see if I can get everything to work and maybe I buy a larger one later to add music.

With evErything larger than 4GB you should be able to put additional music on it.
Good luck

Obviously since I don't have a working V5 card I can not change the Magictext as there is none on this card(it's from an old camera), I did however format it as FAT32. Is there perhaps some other way to get this to work ? Perhaps an image to download of a working CF card or a step by step guide to set up a new card ?

Many thanks!

Puhhhh
There is even on the old CF V3 and V4 a magictext.
The magictext is not on the download package. You need to insert it yourself.
On version6 the magic Text you need to insert is at EE237000. (And also maybe at F4A466.... (?). ) With winhex in Administrator Mode you need to type the text: HARMANBECKER BECKER V6 followed by the HEXcode 0A and 00 00 00 00 ....
Than it should work ! For V4 this is also the same text but at a different address since V4 is on a 2GB card but on V4 you don't need the 0A at the end.
A hint : it is always at the beginning of the unpartioned space.
Please make sure that you old 4GB is a SanDisk Ultra or Extreme ! CF cards from other companies do not work.
So : you need to type in the text. It is not included in the download package.
Ok?

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
I have managed to finally update the system software by formatting a 1GB CF card as FAT(16) and extracting the files from the system CD ISO to it, the firmware in my device was so old it would not read FAT32 formatted cards. After the update to V6 it now does read FAT32 formatted cards.
The 4GB card I still had was by a different brand so I will not try to use it for the navigation software, instead I have ordered a 8GB and a 16GB Sandisk Ultra card on Amazon. I will place an update as soon as these have arrived.

Ok. Just reserve 4GB for the Sat nav data and the remaining whatever GB you may want to use for MP3 music files.
Good luck !

Amendment : I never made CF cards larger than 8GB run. Please post if you made them run and whether you could reserve 4GB for navigation and the rest for music.

Dear @xcvb1 ,

I'm in trouble with the update. I have a cascade pro 7941 with system cd 3.61 and CF 2.0gb with v3.0 europe.
I'm trying to understand what to do. So 1st i burned the cd with v6.0 system and i think i have to buy a CF with max 8gb to put the nav ?
but then i really don't now how to change the magic text. and in which order should i do the process.

Hope you can help me

Many thanks

Laurens

Also when i put the cd an try to update, it says immediately update could not be performed

The most easiest and safest method is that you should buy the V6 with CD and CF card from HarmanBecker. It should be around 199 Euro. On eBay there are less expensive versions available.
The first issue is that it has been reported that the system CD of this thread is not working. As far as I know (in order to update) some users recommended to copy all files to the CF card and do the update from CF card. When the update is done remove all files from the CF card despite Track01 and Track02.
Try first to do the update. The problem is that prior to V6 the cascade takes only cards up to 2GB as far as I know.
So, maybe copy all files to the CRF card. If the update doesn't start after manual reset of your sat nav try to reformat the CF card as described earlier in this thread in order to start the update from a pseudo 2GB card ( that means you downformat a 4GB or 8 GB card down to 2 GB to enable the radio to read it ).
Tell me if You succeeded with the update. This is the first step. Than I can try to explain the issues with the magic text. You need the update first! If you can't manage to do re update all further steps will not work anyway.
Ok?

PS : it needs to be a SanDisk Ultra or Extreme !!!!

Dear @xcvb1 !

Many thanks for your answer. It worked immediately

Tomorrow i'll get a CF Sandisk Ultra 16gb (that's the minimum size i could find) . So i'll have a 2gb and a 16gb.

Is it gonna be ok for the nav software ?

Good evening and thank you

Laurens

So, you were able to update to V6 ?
If yes: than it is time to do the rest !
Please use a 4GB card for the beginning! The 2 GB card is too small! It cannot be used for the sat nav data of V6.
The card should contain at this moment the files: Track01 and Track02.... they are almost 4 GB.... I am not sure whether cards >8 GB really work on the radio ! I am sure 4 and 8 GB do but I have heard others say that 16 GB don't work! With cards larger than 4 GB you can down format / partition in a way that they work as 4 GB cards, only and you loose the remaining space on the card. But when you succeeded in the 4 GB format I would encourage you to try it with a larger card and reserve the remaing GB as mp3 playground! That means you should have another partition on the card additional to those shown a little more down in this message!

With WinHEX (opened as administrator and from the thread with all the files to download,,, there is even a key generator included!). With winhex it is lots easier since you need to know where the unpartioned space and the unpartionable space starts! There you need to insert the Magictext (in case you have an original Becker the V6 text is: HARMANBECKER BECKER V6 followed by 0A and than 00 00 00 00 etc... / in case you have a Ferrari Radio e.g. BE6112 or BE6111 it is : HARMANBECKER OEM V6 followed by 0A and than 00 00 00 00 ...) Please take care that the space in between the text are all "20" and not "00" !)

You need a FAT32 format of the card
On a 4 GB card you should have these partitions of the CF card:

D = the CF card removable card

Start sectors 31KB
Partition 1 (D) FAT32 3,7 GB
Unpartioned space 104 MB
Unpartionable space 5.5 MB


In case you don't use Winhex but another Hex reader / writer programe: the unpartioned space starts at EE237000 and the unpartionable space at F4A46600.
Than it should all work!
Good luck!

@xcvb1 , thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

I ordered a 4gb sandisk ultra. But i'm really lost with winhex. I tried the program today with the 16gb but i don't really understant what to do and how to do.

what should i do "step by step" ( sorry ) when i'll receive my new 4gb CF ?

Thanks again

Laurens

The first thing you need to do is to upgrade on V6 Either from CD or from CF card (after you copied all files of the initial thread to a CF card ).

That is one thing
The next thing is to make sure that the card is formatted Fat32.

Most is explained here

Angebote Maps - Becker Cascade V6.0 Map update

In The #1 of the thread.
WinHex you need to open as administrator and enable writing when starting the software !!!
WinHex is good for the magic text!
In the status line Of WinHex you need to click 'Tools'. Than 'Open disc' and than Open the physical media where you CF card is connected (e.g. RM1: Generic -Compact flash (3.8GB, USB).

Than You should see all the partitions etc. Click unpartioned space and unpartionable space and add the Magictext to both addresses given.

If you can't see much click on 'removable medium 1' just above the partitions shown !

Ok?

It is maybe most easy to burn an CF card image from this thread:

Angebote Maps - Becker Cascade V6.0 Map update

Please read and search the 24 pages very much in detail esp for PDF attachments to posts. There it should be explained at least in German. You may want to use Google translater to translate it into Dutch or English !

Ok?


DETAILS how to format the card etc can be found in this thread:

Becker Cascade 7944 V5.0 Thread, Post 210 from Paxus. There, it is mentioned how to format the card with diskpart and what to do with Winhex..... when finished with diskpart you open WinHex as administrator and do what Paxus said. A key generator for WinHex was included in the thread with the package by atlantis 01 !
But again : original software is the legal way to do it even if the prices are ridiculous high !


Here, the Paxus recommendations were a bit modified by Max :


Angebote Maps - Becker Cascade V6.0 Map update

Hi,

first of all, excuse me for my English, my German writing simply is not good enough, but
I really need some help from the experts.

I have a Becker Cascade BE7944, with the original System CD Version 3.7
and the original 2 Gb CF card Version 3.0.
Some years ago I upgraded to Version 5.01, (GPSUnderground I think) with success.
(with Sandisk Ultra II 2Gb from eBay).

Now I am trying to upgrade to Version 6.0, following the thread by Atlantis01.
(with SanDisk Ultra 4Gb).
I followed the Atlantis01 method:

burning the System CD_V6.iso (the Becker 7944 regognizes the CD but refuses to update)
then I prepared the SanDisk Ultra 4Gb:

1. cleaning the CF card with Diskpart
2. formatting the CF card with HPUSBDisk (other formatting programs did not work)
3. partitioning the CF card with MiniTool Partition Wizard
4. writing the "Magic Text" with WinHex
5. copying all the contents of "CF Karte" to my 4Gb CF card.

Updating does not succeed!

My questions:

is it possible to update from V5.O1 with the prepared CF card or is V5.2 really needed
as a starting point?
exactly where do I write the Magic Text "BECKERHARMAN BECKER V6"?
I understand that this has to be in the unpartioned section, but at what location?
this item (Magic Text and where to write it) is not clear to me at all.
What am I doing wrong?