.: MMI 101

There is to much information to put in one place but I'll try and cover some basics here that will help you understand what your going to see in this section.

First of all not all units in vehicles are what I call true MMI's. I know this is debatable but it's my site so there :-P

Most of what you read is applicable to the MMI 3G and 3G plus. They apply to all Audi vehicles except the A3. The A3 is using a different brand now than the rest of the fleet and who knows what the next generation of Audi's will bring. More research will be done as time permits.

What is an MMI.

The MMI is essentially a computer running an operating system called QNX. Most of the tools and utilities in the operating system are GNU licensed items and may be familiar to the more techie world. I won't get into the specifics of it all but just know this is a computer system your looking at and not a calculator.

Making changes to the MMI can be dangerous and cause it not to boot or cause unwanted side effects. You wont go into your registry on a windows computer and make changes without knowing what they are so don't do it on your MMI either.

The MMI stores information in multiple places. It has built in flash memory and a hard drive. Items like music, maps, languages and many other items are stored on the hard drive. As you may guess the main operating system is stored on the built in flash. This allows the unit to still function and allow you to take care of the vehicle settings even in the event of a hard drive failure.

 

Flashing the MMI.

This can be very dangerous and should only be done observing very strict rules and instructions.

Flashing the MMI is basically overwriting the current operating system with a new version. This is normally done by erasing the current system and writing in a new one to the flash memory. There is more than one way to do this which is why those who know can recover your unit if you do something wrong and the unit wont boot. There are articles that will touch on this more in the main section.

Few important notes while flashing. Make sure you have a good power source hooked up to the car like a battery charger or leave the vehicle running while it's flashing. Some updates and installs can take upwards of 2-3 hours if your doing maps at the same time. A car turning off or battery going flat during an update can be catastrophic. I have noted an A7 turning itself off even with a charger hooked up after 45 minutes.. I now leave the car running when flashing just to be safe. On that note though I've not had much issues with A4/A5's but its most likely a battery management thing. JUST BE SAFE.

Don't play with things during the flash. Don't turn AC on and OFF. Don't open and close doors. Get setup, get out of the vehicle if you aren't going to sit and watch nothing and leave a window open. Start the update and leave the car alone. I know this is paranoia talking and I've broken all the rules with no harm but it's best to be safe.

When you do a firmware update you are flashing a lot more than the MMI. It checks your radio, AMP, CD Changer and a number of vehicle systems. There have been reports of problems with the BOSE systems with flashing which I'll touch in a different article later. If your worried then use the option to do self picked updates and unselect the Bose system. Once again more on that later.

If you break it don't hang yourself. Or blame me... Broken things can be fixed. This doesn't mean be reckless.

Final thoughts.....

There is a lot to learn and do and I'm just an amateur compared to a lot of people out there and probably an expert compared to most who read this... Scary huh.. I will add more as time permits and share what I can. Note that not all this information is from me and may be censored to protect the intellectual property of it's provider. I will not be hosting Firmware files or maps or tell you how to hack them. I also will not be posting information on radio conversions at this time for different regions but know it can be done and you can contact me if you need this service. Please note you will have to send your radio out to get this done. Enough for now...

 

Please note: AudiEnthusiast.com is in no way associated to Audi or VW in any way shape or form. All brand names and manufacturers listed here are for informational purposes only and are in no way endorsed by AudiEnthusiasts.com unless stated other wise.

WARNING!! All modifications and changes are done at your own risk. This site in no way approves the modifications performed here for your vehicle. Please check with your dealer before performing any changes as they may void portions of your factory warranty.