No Valid Licence for Navigation - Message on Screen - Buy Updates on Tech Pack

[ChuckMountain]

Today I got the following message. I have had them in the past and then downloaded the maps offline to save data charges. However today looks like my count is up :(

A new navigation database is available: Europe 2018/2019

No valid licence for the database.

Please contact your Audi dealer or go to my.audi.com

35026

From what I have read you get the next 5 updates free of charge on a new car so given my car is just under 3 years that's probably about right.

However when I go on to my.audi.com I can't find any information other than to download it.

Anybody with same, enquired with Audi as to see what the cost is or whether they can get it discounted\free?

If I try a download will it work, I don't want to end installing it only to find that I can't uninstall etc.

Also on the new beta my.audi.com there is a

myRoadmusic option now with Amazon music download - anybody know about that?

[Elansear]

Hi Have seen mentioned on here that if you E-mail Audi UK they tend to extend it free of charge. Try a search of the site, unless anybody else can confirm my suspicion.

[GrolschUK]

I didn't do it for the map downloads, but the online navigation subscription.
I gave Audi UK a call, and they put the request through to Audi DE, and a few days later it was back online.

I have just checked the portal, and the ability to download maps has returned too :)

[ChuckMountain]

Thanks,

well it has allowed me to download it ok but see what happens when I stick it in the car :)

Thanks for your replies :)

[ChuckMountain]

And the answer is not a lot :)

It says invalid media, which is a bit strange but it has written the WMPInfo.xml file it normally does to it.

I guess its not liking the lack of licence ...

Time to get onto Audi, who said all licences were activated and I would need to check with my local dealer. Couldn't buy anything other than extended warranty when I checked ....

Well its booked in for its MOT in a month's time so will check then :)

[GrolschUK]

If you look in the MMI menus, there will be a section that says if you are licenced and if so, when until.

When I was out of licence, the website wouldn't allow me to download the latest maps (although that was the old site, not the beta one)

[ChuckMountain]

If you look in the MMI menus, there will be a section that says if you are licenced and if so, when until.

When I was out of licence, the website wouldn't allow me to download the latest maps (although that was the old site, not the beta one)

Thanks will check.

Went back to the old Audi site and that won't allow me to download it with a message "You can buy up-to-date maps from your Audi partner."

It does allow me to download the most recent one though.

Audi UK need to update their call support staff me thinks.....

Wonder how much it will cost?

[GrolschUK]

I'm downloading the 18/19 maps now, and will bring a large enough SD card to work tomorrow to copy it to.

Let us see what happens, or if further instalments after the initial 5 are blocked.

[hshah]

My car is coming up to its 3 year mark and for the last few weeks it's been warning my that the license is about to expire. However, just now I got the same message about no valid license, when I know full well that I have one till the end of the month.

Maybe it's an issue on Audi's end, especially since I'm not the only one who has got said message. Sounds like a good time to get the license extended for free though. What number/email address have you guys contacted Audi UK on?

[hshah]

Just checked the MMI for updates and it says that there aren't any... sounds very much like an issue on their end, but just in case, I've downloaded the 13GB maps update on my PC. There is an update to what I've currently got in the car, so not sure why it's lying to me lol.

[GrolschUK]

The 18/19 maps are currently installing from SD card, so looks like the 'Online' licence that was re-activated after it ran out in March, is also allows map updates to continue.

[ChuckMountain]

The 18/19 maps are currently installing from SD card, so looks like the 'Online' licence that was re-activated after it ran out in March, is also allows map updates to continue.

Was that the online traffic one that expired. That's the only licence I can see under mmi. Mine runs out the day before the 3rd birthday.

Will have to try Audi.uk again

[GrolschUK]

Yea - that's the one... didn't know if they were all tied together somehow as 'online services'

[ChuckMountain]

Did you ring after it had expired then, that might be easier as the person I spoke to said all the licences were ok currently ...

Which number did you ring?

[hshah]

Following my post earlier, I had emailed customer.services@audi.co.uk with:


My car is coming up to its 3 year mark and the MMI has been nagging me for the last few weeks regarding the upcoming license expiry. However, just a little while ago it came up with the message:

A new navigation database is available:
Europe 2018/2019
No valid license for the database

Obviously I still have a valid license so that message confused me a little, and when I've gone into the MMI to check for updates, it states that there are none available.

Interestingly, I know I have the 2017/2018 maps in the vehicle, and on the My Audi site I have the option to download 13GB worth of 2018/2019 Europe Maps.

Can you please explain the message that popped up, and the inconsistency between what the vehicle is stating and what I know / can see on the My Audi site?

And I got this back yesterday:

Thank you for your recent email regarding your Audi Connect Licence. Please accept my apologies for the delay in my response.

I have requested an extension to your licence with our Connect Support Team at AUDI AG.

The Connect Support Team deal with Connect Licence extensions worldwide, so please be aware that this request can take up to two weeks to process.

I will contact you as soon as I have any further information.

In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to thank for your understanding and patience while your request is being looked into.

They completely ignored my questions and have obviously sent me a copied and pasted response. Looks like they will renew it for anyone who emails. Not complaining, but I would still like to know why that message came up lol.

[ChuckMountain]

So I emailed Audi services as was phoned back the next working day about it (Monday)

They said my licence (Online traffic) was still valid, however after asking nicely I managed them to put a request into to extend it as it was very nearly up. They said it will take up to 2 weeks for it to come through.

Yesterday I had a message saying a maps update was available but wasn't sure how much data was available and had to cancel it. Ironically I might have had enough to download UK maps. When I checked via the MMI if there was an online update it said there wasn't... :( Licence was still dated 2018.

Today when I checked it had been extended for an additional year into 2019 however no updates available.

I tried the maps download from the beta MyAudi website but I get an invalid media update when trying in the car. Just about to try a different SD card as all the files are correct (Downloaded twice and binary comparison) and on it but want to eliminate it.

I still can't download from the regular MyAudi website yet but will check.
grolsch is yours fully working now?

[Elansear]

Hi. Did the download the other day for 18/19 maps. I used the old site as the new one kept locking up, tried it several times over a couple of days. I did notice that the beta site appears to be the U.S version, so that may be an issue. The old site worked fine and maps installed ALL OK.

[ChuckMountain]

Hi. Did the download the other day for 18/19 maps. I used the old site as the new one kept locking up, tried it several times over a couple of days. I did notice that the beta site appears to be the U.S version, so that may be an issue. The old site worked fine and maps installed ALL OK.

Thanks did you have the error message already. Is you car 3 years old yet though?

[Elansear]

Hi. No error message just the beta site kept crashing and locking up so I gave up and used the old site, better the devil you know! Car will be 3 early November so will get hold of Audi in early October to get the license extended. BTW downloaded on PC not via sim.

[ChuckMountain]

Ah, ok you might be on your last "free" update then.

Audi don't seem to know the specifics of this particular licence :(

Hoping it will still update in the next few days.

Here is what I get on the audi site.


35046

[Elansear]

That was download 4 so I think there is one more if I choose the next one before the license expires, assuming another update before November .

[wildbore]

Ah, ok you might be on your last "free" update then.

Audi don't seem to know the specifics of this particular licence :(

Hoping it will still update in the next few days.

Here is what I get on the audi site.


35046

So, I am totally confused by this thread. My car was 3 years old in March. On its birthday, its present to itself was a message saying that the online traffic licence had expired (no mention of navigation). Also, on the MyAudi website, the latest maps were unavailable to me - as per the screenshot from ChuckMountain above. Audi renewed the Traffic Information licence through my local dealership (yes, it took nearly two weeks) but only for six months, which is a PITA as I will have to go through the hassle again shortly. In addition, the latest map updates are still unavailable to me - I can only download another copy of my last-allowed update, which was the 2017-2018 mapset. The latest mapset - 2018-2019 - has the "You can buy the latest updates from your Audi partner" message. I note, too, that the traffic service has two icons: "Licensed" and "Linked" whereas the map update service only has the "Linked" icon.

I cannot see how I can get up-to-date maps in the car but I haven't bothered asking my "Audi partner". But it seems that some people are able to update their mapset once the traffic service licence has been renewed?

Thanks for any clarification!

[Elansear]

Not sure if this is totally correct, but from reading various bits regarding this over a couple of years, this is my take on it. There are 2 licences, traffic & map's both independent of each other, so need to be updated separately. In the UK with a Tech Pack ( has a sim slot) Audi will renew the licences free after 3 years, due to the owner having there own Data connection in the car via the sim slot. I believe that in other parts of the world, USA, the car has an embedded sim so the data connection is provided by Audi, therefor they have to pay for the connection to be renewed each year. Hence the free renewal of the licence for us. Therefor we are in the same position regarding maps as somebody buying a Garmin, or TomTom with free maps for life. Not sure about free online traffic for ever, perhaps that is renewed for a limited period perhaps the first 6-12 months, do not know if Garmin etc.. charge for online traffic after an initial period. Perhaps anybody who works for Audi could clarify this for us...

[wildbore]

Well, as if the car had read this thread, when I jumped in this morning, the display said that there is a new map available (2018-19) but my licence has expired (I still have an active traffic licence). So, I will contact Audi UK to see if I can get it renewed. - hopefully without charge.

[ChuckMountain]

The 18/19 maps are currently installing from SD card, so looks like the 'Online' licence that was re-activated after it ran out in March, is also allows map updates to continue.

Has yours fully installed and updated the new maps?

Just to check you rang up (or emailed) Audi UK or not and they extended what appeared to be both the Online traffic and the maps? And your car is 3.5 years old or so now?



Well, as if the car had read this thread, when I jumped in this morning, the display said that there is a new map available (2018-19) but my licence has expired (I still have an active traffic licence). So, I will contact Audi UK to see if I can get it renewed. - hopefully without charge.

Did the prompt allow you to download them or just say yes it's available but tough you have no licence?

I have had two messages so far one that said tough, the other that said download but I had to cancel that at the time :(

...

It does seem that there are two distinct licences the online traffic Audi are happy to extend and the UK support team know about that.

The maps however are a bit more of a mystery. Audi UK don't appear to know about this. I will be going into my dealer but not for another 3 weeks and what's the likelihood of them knowing if Audi UK don't.

The price could be anything between 0 and megabucks and if others are getting it free then it should be consistent...

More confused now .... :(

[wildbore]

There are definitely two separate, totally unconnected licences. I have already had my traffic licence renewed (for a frustratingly short 6 months FFS) but I am not licensed to install the latest map update. Someone else here pointed out that you cannot download maps you are not licensed for on the Audi portal but you can download them from the Beta portal (this is true - I checked); however, I do not expect they will install as the car itself knows it is not licensed to install and use these maps.

I have emailed Customer Services - happy to pay a reasonable price to renew the licence but, as you say, it should be the same for everyone - and it looks like some people have managed to get their map licence renewed FOC. I must say, as each renewal process uses up the time of a service technician at your local dealership (or, at least, that's how they renewed the traffic licence: via the local dealership service department), you'd think they would do both renewals together to save the pfaffing.

As an aside, I read somewhere, or was told, that Audi meant all these services to be automatically renewable via MyAudi at a cost but that they haven't managed to get their portal properly set up yet (hence the still rather hokey-cokey nature of the current portal and the imminent new version and the current, rahter chaotic, labour-intensive approach to the renewals). It makes sense as they can never have planned to do all of this on a car-by-car and licence-by-licence basis; getting the website, background databases and links to all the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of cars properly set up, together with the payment service and all the other shizzle that is required, is quite an undertaking. I am a contractor for VAG so I may have been told this internally, indeed I think I was told this internally - or I may have read it on an internet forum. I can't remember!!!

[ChuckMountain]

Yep that was me, I did download them via the beta site and I can no valid update media or words to that effect when it scans the SD card. The maps are in the same format as the previous ones just that I would assume somewhere is a licence file, have had a quick look but nothing obvious.

My online traffic was renewed via phone with from what the support person said a request to Germany. The car must check online as I didn't need to go into the garage.

The licences appear to be linked to the chassis number which of course makes sense.

Yep if they could do it via the website that would be great. I still find Audi Connect a bit clunky, its slow and in the past 2 days its forgotten the pin twice :(

[GrolschUK]

I've just looked at the Beta site again, and it's showing 17/18 maps, and not 18/19.
So may have misread what I downloaded, and in fact that being the last licenced version available to me :(

Sorry to add confusion to the thread.

[wildbore]

I've just looked at the Beta site again, and it's showing 17/18 maps, and not 18/19.
So may have misread what I downloaded, and in fact that being the last licenced version available to me :(

Sorry to add confusion to the thread.

I am definitely not licensed for 2018/19 but the Beta site definitely does list that as the only download available to me (and - indeed - does allow me to download it, unlike the main site, which lists the 2018/19 but says I can't download it, but does allow me to download 2017/18). I didn't try the download from the Beta site in the car, based on ChuckMountain's experience.

[AT.]

Just an info: Today, on my car, Audi has just renewed my licence for one more year without any question asked. Maybe they made some changes in their system, so probably the beta site and this can cause some temporary problems.

[ChuckMountain]

Just an info: Today, on my car, Audi has just renewed my licence for one more year without any question asked. Maybe they made some changes in their system, so probably the beta site and this can cause some temporary problems.

Was this for the maps or the online traffic?

[AT.]

Was this for the maps or the online traffic?

I'm sorry to forget to mention, of course it was for the traffic online.

[ChuckMountain]

Ok thanks, yep renewing online traffic doesn't seem an issue at all. Just the mysterious maps :)

[ChuckMountain]

So Audi rang me back to check if I had received the licence ok. Which I had for the online traffic.

I then enquired about the maps again and said I could download them. They went through and asked if I had formatted card correctly which I had and even tried different one. They thought even though I get the message please purchase maps that I should be able to get them for free.

I asked how much it would cost and they went away and checked with parts and rang me back £163.58 + vat, and this appears to be for one version .... :(

I would need to ask my local Audi dealer about whether I can get a free one or in fact if that one will work. Have asked for a part number but wasn't given one.

So next month when the car is in I will check :(

[ChuckMountain]

So my car had its check today and I asked.

Initially they said they would send off an email but I said that's for traffic. Clarified if it was an SD version, no it's the HDD with online update. So then they checked with the technician who said yes required SD Card update has to be done and hooked up to the machine in service etc. Price of £269.10 quoted.

This sounds very much like the old school way of updating it and presumably is a one off. I have some new roads round here and they may or may not be on the update but I don't want to pay that much each time to find out.

[ChuckMountain]

If you get the option to download the update in the car. Don't waste your time\bandwidth downloading.

I downloaded the two UK (~1GB) updates and after downloading them it said after "completing the journey it would install". When I came back to the car I got a message saying the update was not valid or was outdated.... :(

[wildbore]

So, after chasing Audi Customer Service for the best part of three weeks I finally got speaking to somebody who seemed to know what they were talking about.

According to this person, there is no way to update the maps in the car without going to your local dealership. The charge there is £163+VAT for a single map update plus whatever service charge they might add of their own (that doesn't even get you the two updates that are issued in a single year!). This applies to a facelift car with Audi Connect and Tech Pack Advanced (or whatever it's called). I expressed my incredulity but he was adamant that there is no mechanism to pay for or obtain the updates from the Connect portal. He did say that the portal is currently being re-engineered and that map updates might be possible in the new portal.

I shouldn't be surprised. When Audi launched the FL, they said the hardware was software upgradable so that the car would always be up to date and benefit in the future from systems and apps not yet created (an Apple CarPlay upgrade, anyone?). I thought that was too good to be true, and it seems even being able to upgrade the maps after the first three years is also a goal too far.

[A6S]

These cars unfortunately are built and design around fleets/lease. It’s no wonder everything works for 3 years then after that they want an arm and a leg for anything out of the ordinary.
Annoying thing is the tech pack was a pretty expensive option for a big screen and colour dis. The online features were lame at best and now it’s looking like a couple of hundreds for a new map is ridiculous considering everyone can get google maps for free and don’t get me started on the promise of CarPlay as a later dealer fit option. That never happened for early facelifts.
I find the online stuff a bit better on the merc. At least that tells me if I left the doors unlocked and I can lock/unlock with my phone. Check live data about the car from my phone like fuel level, tyre pressures etc but the hardware in the car is pretty bad and looks like it’s from the 90s. Need to find a car that has best of both these.

[ChuckMountain]

I borrowed a new A7 for the last 2 days with the new virtual cockpit and centre display to see what that was like whilst my car was in for some work doing.

Did I like it? Yes and no

Pros

Navigation and display is very pretty and well done
Voice control is improved
No (hardly any) loading time at the start to get to Google maps
Apple Car Play integration
Nice driving position
Radar cruise control and speed recognition set it and forget it :)

Cons

Touch screen - I find myself having to look down, although though there is haptic feedback that does not help you locate the button. Zoom which I use no wheel to turn is a two\three step process now
Fingerprints !!!!
Apple Car Play Integration appears to be wired only, what the heck? It has wireless charging but I have to plug it in. BMW offer wireless ...
If you have Car Play running you can't make calls via the MMI either middle or instrument cluster you have to use the Car play bit and voice controlled appears to be limited . Also when using Spotify the now playing track didn't always appear in the instrument cluster
SOS - green light is right in my vision on the centre roof and is sooooo bright at night its ridiculous
Engine - on paper is quick but in reality seemed a bit dull - this is the 340ps Petrol one
I can see the rainbow effect on the LED lighting on certain colours when moving my head
They dropped the 4 zone climate control
Laser lights - good with the matrix option but appeared like the headlights were dirty but weren't as the light had inconsistent brightness level across the lit up area
The car announces very loudly you have left your phone in the car. That's great but when filling up with fuel I then have to plug and unplug it etc.
The car has a "Windows" startup sound - can be disabled

The car was around 65k as specced ....

Don't know if you could check stuff online or not hadn't tried it

Would I get one, probably not .....

[SMILEMAN]

Looking at the way prices have moved up with the new A7 and the A6 (first version now on the configurator), I think wait a year and huge discounts will be available.
Really not sure myself about all the screens and no buttons.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[ChuckMountain]

A6 (first version now on the configurator)

They need to proof read their website. A new feature of the A6 is the Duel (sic) screens ....

[ChuckMountain]

How much are the new cars??? The only S-Line one based albeit a 3.0 Quattro starts at £51k and that doesn't have the equivalent of the Black pack. The list price for my BiTdi was £53k when I got it ....

[A6S]

If they don’t launch cheaper smaller engine they are gonna lose a whole lot of customers.
All base specs are above the premium car tax so that will turn off a lot of personal buyers and lease cars gonna get more expensive. Saying that a reasonable spec a4 is over £40k.
I’m not convinced with the touchscreen stuff. Greasy paw prints everywhere and the fake exhausts look worse than the facelift ones.

[ChuckMountain]

Yes car prices are getting silly, there is a 2.0TDI version but price TBC in the newest brochure.

You need to add a few extras though to get it back to the same as the outgoing spec though :(