smartTOP module Z4 - a cautionary tale!

[johnbirt]

My fault entirely. Dodgy memory.

Took car in for oil service and system upgrade and forgot about the smartTOP module.

The upgrade which takes a long while failed. I fessed up about the module and they removed it and apparently the car is now taking data so should have it back in 1 piece but will have to re-install the module myself as its not a BMW part.

Hopefully I won't get charged for the update! Anyone else had this issue?

Is it just a matter of plugging the unit back in? I've checked that there isn't a significant firmware upgrade since I got it last year but since the unit is now out will update it anyway.

I reformatted my old laptop recently from Vista to Win 7 and in doing so removed the software for the smartTOP. Downloaded it again and although it says plug the module and then run I did run to check and found that there was a missing driver .dll file. Downloaded the driver pack so shouldn't be an issue when I do connect the unit. It says in the manual if the driver isn't present it will be found via Internet connection. I noted when the unit was installed updating firmware was done in real time over the Internet and they don't seem to supply a firmware image to download and process separately which seems a poor way of doing things. Should you want to update the unit in the car then a wireless connection is needed or a very long cable to laptop! Not sure how reliable a wireless connection would be down my driveway.

Hope this faux pas helps someone else avoid the error.

 

[johnbirt]

Update on smartTOP. Received car back from service with smartTOP removed following system update failure. Worked when module taken out.Asked for trim to not be replaced for refixing which will do this weekend.

Interestingly so used to it now that I forgot you had to hold down buttons to open and close! Thought roof was broken when I took my finger off then it dawned. Just goes to show how reliant you become on it.

In case others have the following issue, thought I'd post the solution.

Connected device to laptop where I had downloaded the software for updating the firmware and changing the device settings. If there are no drivers supposedly Windows (7 in my case) searches for them on the Internet when device is connected via USB.In this case didn't find any so software doesn't recognise the module.

The support recommends manual install via copying a .dll file into Windows system32 directory.You get the driver pack from mods4cars web site. When you run the software after this doesn't find the file. The fix recommended is to use regsrv to register the software. No go as windows reckons its corrupt.

The best simple solution and you will HAVE to do this to solve the issue is to go into control panel\system and security\system manager\device manager. Then find the errant device which is marked with the yellow exclamation point.Remove it and then choose update driver. This gives you the opportunity of pointing windows at where your drivers are. I recommend just pointing it at the folder where you unzipped the driver pack with search all subfolders tickbox selected and leave windows to search in there for it. That should do it. If you don't remove the uninstalled device from device manager you will never persuade windows to find it.

HTH.