Creating a usb drive with linux

Ford SYNC 3 Support
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1

hi,

i am just new to the whole thing. i am using debian linux and have tried to create a bootble update stick for the ford of my friend.

i am unsure if i did it right.

SYNC Region: EU

Navigation Variant: Nav

Manufacturer Year: Pre MY20

Install Type: Unknown

Old SYNC Version: 3.0.25306

New SYNC Version: 3.4.23188

Do you have a error message, if so what is it?
i did not update yet. i am just unsure if the usb i tried to create is ok.

i created a script that copies/wgets some files to usb.

the result looks like so:

ls -R /media/tom/ford-update/
/media/tom/ford-update/:
autoinstall.lst reformat.lst SyncMyRide

/media/tom/ford-update/SyncMyRide:
1u5t-14g386-cb.tar.gz 1U5T-14G421-BGJ_1644011311000.TAR.GZ 4U5T-14G422-BCH_1675638261000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BAJ_1644010894000.TAR.GZ 1U5T-14G421-BHJ_1644011371000.TAR.GZ 4U5T-14G422-BDH_1675638739000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BBJ_1644008981000.TAR.GZ 1U5T-14G421-BJJ_1644011473000.TAR.GZ 4U5T-14G423-AC_1615425645000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BCJ_1644009116000.TAR.GZ 1U5T-14G424-BL_1646159765000.TAR.GZ 5U5T-14G391-AT_1660763323000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BDJ_1644009729000.TAR.GZ 1U5T-14G658-AH_1644006443000.TAR.GZ NU5T-14G381-AD_1689364279000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BEJ_1644010041000.TAR.GZ 4U5T-14G422-BAH_1675637035000.TAR.GZ
1U5T-14G421-BFJ_1644010644000.TAR.GZ 4U5T-14G422-BBH_1675637107000.TAR.GZ

i also formatted the stick as exFAT and

tried “install-mbr /dev/sdb” on my stick to have it booting.

is there anything missing?

i am unsure about the old version. 3.something. the version i entered is probably wrong.

another important question for me is: what are my risks? is there a risk to brick the sync in a car from 2017?
i really dont want to make it worse with the update attempt.

what i forgot to mention: the display of my friends car does only at start show the ford logo and turns then black seemingly forever. there is the hope that a software update fixes this problem.

Update Method: CyanLabs Manual Method

2

The USB sticks for doing an update aren’t bootable volumes/devices.
You can literally take a new one out of the package, format it as exFAT, copy the files over and be ready to go.

3

The first thing you want to do is to run the Interrogator Utility on the vehicle you wish to perform the updates. This will answer the questions of the APIM model, year, and if you can reformat the unit safely.

Dowmload GB5T-14G386-AC and place it in the SyncMyRide folder on your USB. In the root of the USB, place the autoinstall file.

autoinstall.lst (151 Bytes)

Run this in the vehicle, it will take maybe a minute. Retrieve the XML file from the USB in the SyncMyRide folder and post that here. You can change the filename and remove the VIN if you want.

DO NOT assume that a 2018 vintage APIM is not MY20+ eMMC. Ford Service Replacement APIM’s contain the newer eMMC coding and will brick if reformatted.

4

Since you only have Linux and want to do this, I’ll take you through the procedure…
I’m going to assume you want to install the full EU map packages and upgrade to the latest Sync 3.4 version from Sync 3.0.20204.
You are missing several files, and these are not the current maps but are EU 2.21. You would want EU 2.22 files, which are B*K versions.
All files can be downloaded from SYNC 3 APIM Software (IVSU) Database - CyanLabs or by clicking on the file link.

Nav Map files.
1U5T-14G421-BAK
1U5T-14G421-BBK
1U5T-14G421-BCK
1U5T-14G421-BDK
1U5T-14G421-BEK
1U5T-14G421-BFK
1U5T-14G421-BGK
1U5T-14G421-BHK
1U5T-14G421-BJK

Nav Voice files:
4U5T-14G422-BAK
4U5T-14G422-BBK
4U5T-14G422-BCK
4U5T-14G422-BDK

Map License File:
1U5T-14G424-BM

The Sync 3 app and system voice files:
NU5T-14G381-AD
5U5T-14G391-AT

Support files:
1U5T-14G658-AH
4U5T-14G423-AC

Reformat Utility:
1U5T-14G386-CB

The USB does not need to be bootable.
Format the USB as Exfat MBR.
Create a new folder named SyncMyRide.
Copy the autoinstall.lst and reformat.lst files to the root of the USB.
Copy the files to the SyncMyRide folder.

Autoinstall.lst file contents:

[SYNCGen3.0_ALL]
Item1 = 1U5T-14G386-CB.TAR.GZ
Open1 = SyncMyRide\1U5T-14G386-CB.TAR.GZ
Options = AutoInstall,Include,Transaction

autoinstall.lst (172 Bytes)

Reformat.lst file contents:
List all files here with the exact filenames you download. They must match what is in the SyncMyRide folder.
This is an example of the format for the reformat.lst file. Use your filenames.

APPS=NU5T-14G381-AC_1682460957000.TAR.GZ
VOICE=5U5T-14G391-CS_1660783942000.TAR.GZ
GRACENOTES=4U5T-14G423-CC_1615429225000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CAF_1682461100000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CBF_1682461295000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CCF_1682461368000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CDF_1682463264000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CEF_1682461522000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CGF_1682462518000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CFF_1682462169000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CHF_1682462859000.TAR.GZ
MAP=4U5T-14G421-CJF_1682462901000.TAR.GZ
VOICE_NAV=4U5T-14G422-CAM_1682463335000.TAR.GZ
VOICE_NAV=4U5T-14G422-CBM_1682463581000.TAR.GZ
VOICE_NAV=4U5T-14G422-CCM_1682463747000.TAR.GZ
MAP_LICENSE=4U5T-14G424-CF_1682464057000.TAR.GZ

Once finished, run the USB in the vehicle. Installation will take about 45-60 minutes.
DO NOT REMOVE the USB until you see a GREEN screen and the message to do so.
DO NOT IGNITION CYCLE, or key cycle, at any point until the process is complete and you have removed the USB, as above.

Make sure that the engine or ignition does not shut down during this process.

5

thank you! i just created the “diagnostic stick”. if i understand you right it should just contain these two files:

ls -Rl /media/tom/INTERROGATE
/media/tom/INTERROGATE:
total 64
-rwxr-xr-x 1 tom tom 152 Feb 26 16:24 autoinstall.lst
drwxr-xr-x 2 tom tom 32768 Feb 26 16:19 SyncMyRide

/media/tom/INTERROGATE/SyncMyRide:
total 64
-rwxr-xr-x 1 tom tom 44101 Feb 26 16:24 GB5T-14G386-AC_1587495565000.TAR.GZ

1 Like
6

Assuming you named your volume INTERROGATE that should be correct.

7

yesterday we tried it with this stick. unfortunately no result. somehow the screen stood black.

i guess the stick is checked by the system at boot process.

i guess the system never really came into the boot process.

when i opened the door of the car, it was the first time i saw the ford logo popping up on the display.

i just will make another attempt. looks like the sync is in a bad condition. is it possible that the hard drive gives up living/dies slowly?

8

There’s no hard drive, its all flash memory.
Have you tried just building your drive with a Windows PC?
It doesn’t have to be anything brand new, exFat was introduced with Windows CE 6.x so eveb a fully patched XP PC can be used.

9

What exactly did you try? If you only ran the interrogator utility, then nothing would have happened except the xml file would have been written to the USB. Do not insert the USB drive until the Sync system is normally booted, as this is not a boot process upgrade.

10

Do not take it the wrong way, but while reading your thread I can’t help asking myself: what’s your end goal here?. It almost seems like you are making a very simple operation (creating and copying a bunch of files onto an USB device) really REALLY complicated…

Even being new at this, I’m pretty sure you realize the dangers in working with bad data.

Yep.

Then make things simple and do as advised.

Besides the screen being black, does the unit work?. For instance, does the radio work?, does it pair with a phone?, do the USB ports have power?.

There’s always hope, they say. But I would not say that in your case.

Finally: I also feel you are not telling us the whole story, for some reason.
I mean, you are doing this for a friend that happens to have a unit with a black screen.
Natural questions would be: “how did that happen?”, “what did your friend do?”.
Does your friend have Forscan and an adapter?.

Based on some of that context we may be able to help you farther, but a black screen is not a common issue.

1 Like
11

sorry to be a little bit unprecise and also for making things more complicated than they are.

my friend is not a very dechnical guy. h3e explained that the screen started not to work. sometimes. the he told me that somtimes it worked, but the navigation system showed a wrong location. (about 30km or so wrong)
he went to ford. they tried an update and told him that problably he should replace the “module”. the made some kind of update and after that the screen was just black. except showing the ford logo at startup.

the usb ports have power and if i stick in the interrogator stick. the LED of the stick flickers up from time to time. which gave me the hope that the system would write its xml to the stick. but after two attempts on two different days (we waited about 10minutes) there was nothing new on the stick.

to to me it looks a bit like the sync is kinda dead.

my feeling says that maybe the harddrive is slowly giving up, but this is just a wild guess.

as far as i interpret your answer, the sync is most likely dead already.

i never say a lot of hope since i saw the black screen bhaviour, but i wanted to give it a try.

my conlusion out of all this is that its mostly hopeless and that replacing the sync is the only way to fix his problem.

he is really a good old friend of mine and neighbour. so if there is another hope i would try it. even if its just for the fun in it.

i will be on vacation for about 10 days. so i probably can answer your questions after my holyday.

thanks for your patience supporting me so far!

best
t.

12

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