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HOW TO: Downgrade CTP Firmware on Uconnect CTP13+ (2013 - 2014)

109K views 119 replies 47 participants last post by  Jpresas 
#1 · (Edited)
This explains the process necessary to downgrade your CTP Firmware from either CTP15 or CTP14, to the recommended CTP13.

CTP13 firmware is needed so you can update your maps yourself on your UConnect system.

* WARNING - IT IS POSSIBLE TO "BRICK" YOUR UCONNECT SYSTEM, SO IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THIS, THEN DO NOT PROCEED

Time Needed: ~15 minutes

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Getting Started - What you will need:

(1) CTP13 4.08 Firmware (gupdate.gcd)
(2) 2 Clean USB Flash Drives

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On 1 of the clean USB flash drives, create a folder named "Garmin"

Copy the CTP13 firmware file (gupdate.ucd) into the Garmin folder on the flash drive.

Remove the flash drive from your computer, and head out to your vehicle.

As mentioned above, the time needed to complete the install will be about 15 minutes. You can either do this while sitting and waiting for it to complete, or you can do it while driving.

(If you want to do this while driving, make sure to get the process started BEFORE moving your vehicle)

If you are going to just sit in the car and do this, turn the vehicle on in ACC mode (push the start button with your foot OFF the brake).

If you are going to drive the vehicle, go ahead and start the vehicle.

You will now need to go into DEALER MODE by following these directions:

Hold down the following buttons ALL AT ONCE for a couple of seconds:

drivers side up temperature
driver's side down temperature
front defrost!

You should now see the following screen:



Before you start the downgrade, you will want to back up your user data.

Select "COPY USER DATA" and follow the instructions. It should ask you to insert your clean usb.

Once it finishes copying the user data, you can now begin the downgrade!

Click on the arrow next to "GARMIN RECOVERY UPDATE" and you will see this pop up:



Go ahead and insert your flash drive that has the CTP13 firmware on it and follow the instructions!

Once the process starts, you can either remain in your vehicle and wait, or go for a drive if you need to!

After that is complete you can now "RESTORE USER DATA"

Once that process has completed, you would now be able to start your map upgrade process described here:

HOW TO: Map Update on Uconnect CTP13+ (2013 - 2014)
 
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#2 ·
Hi there,

I'm getting a new 2015 RAM truck soon and the car will be exported to Europe for about a year (then it will come back to the USA). Couple questions.

1- Can i change the maps from USA to Europe?
2- Can I change the radio frequency (9Khz for AM and 0.1 for FM)?

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I added a video to my first post to help as well!

It is the very last link!
 
#7 · (Edited)
So I'm having an issue on my 2015, it seems my Dealer Mode is different from your Dealer mode, so I'm unable to do the downgrade prep to update maps! The screen is all I get.

It's a bummer...I was kind of excited to get fully updated maps...but I guess now it's so locked down there's nothing I can do anymore :/
 

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#8 ·
Yeah, we haven't had time to play around with the 2015 Charger radios yet!
 
#9 ·
Well I messed around with a whole bunch of buttons, scoured the menus, all sorts of stuff. Doesn't look to be anything I could find. I'm sure someone will hack it or figure it out sooner or later, as with any electronic these days...
 
#11 ·
I did try to do a map update, just to see if it would at least recognize the map files (even if it would just error out), and didn't do anything.

One thing I've found is that the maps are pretty much identical to Here maps (Nokia's map service)....but I don't know if those are shared with Garmin...
 
#13 ·
Having problems doing the downgrade. I'm thinking its with trying to get the firmware file in the original post. I click the CTP13 4.08 firmware link and click the download button on the new page and save the download to the garmin folder on my usb stick. When I go to the car and get into dealer mode and try to do the garmin recovery update it says there's no files on my usb stick. I must not be getting the firmware file right and what I put on the usb stick is not right.
 
#14 ·
Cary,


You will need to extract the files from the download link.

There should be a GARMIN folder and then a gupdate.ucd file in that.

Copy the GARMIN folder to a clean USB flash drive, then follow the instructions in the first post to get in to dealer mode!

NOTE: this will only work on 2011 - 2014 RB5 radios (Chargers/300s/Journeys)
 
#24 ·
I know this was an older post, but i never addressed it.

(1) the link you posted above goes to a foreign language website that won't do us any good.

(2) the "can't unlock maps" error can be fixed by doing the exact same process of updating your maps, but making sure you have them unlocked before you copy them over. You will usually get this on the 2013 - 2014's. Not sure if it gets the same error message on the 2011 - 2012!
 
#20 ·
Just did the update from 2.63 to 4.08 Have to say it was a bit confusing at first since it did the Navigation recovery then getting out of dealer mode, and pressing the navi icon with the loading screen appearing with the message "Software reading" after 5 minutes the message was gone and looked at the info menu to find out I'm on firmware 4.08 Awesome tutorial again. Thank y'all so much for making these and a special thanks to tamban for helping me out with all this.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I'm hoping someone can shed some light on my situation and help me out. My car is a 2014 Dodge Dart (I know this is the Charger forum) that has CTP15 on it now which was updated by the dealer. I'm trying to downgrade to CTP13 so I can update my maps to 2017.20 edition because my maps are from 2014!

I get into Dealer Mode and select Garmin Recovery and put my USB stick into the console. The progress bar comes up and goes right across my screen like it's supposed to. Once finished, I exit Dealer Mode and the Nav screen comes up and says Updating Software. Once it's done, I go into the settings and check and I'm STILL on CTP15!

What could I possibly be doing wrong? I'm not an idiot and have followed everything I have found online and now I'm getting really frustrated...

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the video has been removed from YouTube
 
#23 · (Edited)
The Dodge Darts use different model #'s than what we have in our Chargers! I don't think there is a hack yet to upgrade the maps we are doing here! The 2011 - 2014 Dodge Charger/300/Journey all have the exact same radio, so you could update them with the above instructions!
 
#28 ·
They may indeed have different part numbers even if they look and act exactly the same. For whatever reason, it may not be able to take downgrades due to some difference with how that radio communicates with the rest of the car. I'm not an expert but I know electronics and that kind of crap is common.

Think about it, the 300/Charger/Journey are all old Cerberus/Daimler era vehicles with different wiring and electronic architecture, while the Dart is based on the new Fiat architecture for electronics.

Wish we could help but it's not our car, so it may not work. :p
 
#29 ·
While that may be true (different electronic architectures), The RB5 in the Dart can definitely be downgraded. There are a bunch of old posts on dodge-dart.org with many successful downgrades. My problem is that the forum is dead. I've asked for help on there and nothing. Been 4 days now and I gave up on getting help from them.

My Dart could definitely read the firmware that I used from the OP in this thread. It told me that the software on my radio was newer. This is so frustrating because I'm not going to pay Chrysler $250 for new maps when they should be free. Garmin users get free lifetime map updates and we have to pay? BS
 
#31 ·
Did anyone else have their navigation screen turn blue as it is in the 300? I've seen mention of it going back to red after a couple of starts after updates. Any ideas on how long/many?
 
#33 ·
Yes, this is normal, and it will return back to red after a couple of restarts!

No exact amount!
 
#32 ·
CTP13 firmware is needed so you can update your maps yourself on your UConnect system.
This is misleading and should have been "CTP13 firmware makes it easier to feed your unit with the map data with virtually no checks".

The reason why I'm saying this is that I update Maps on my CTP16 unit with no downgrades. In CTP14+ Garmin rolled out their GMA protection of the maps, where GMA (as far as I understand) stands for Garmin Map Authentication and this mechanism replaces the unlock files.

To easily create an update USB stick for such a system the following prerequisites should be met:
  1. a compatible Nuvi device with current Map subscription (or its GarminDevice.xml)
  2. GarminExpress installed
  3. Basecamp installed
  4. MapInstall installed
  5. a spare USB (preferably USB 2.0, but not USB 3.0 compatible) of the comparable size to your map data (in Australia it's enough to have just a 1GB stick, but for the US it will be 8GB or more)

Now, launch GarminExpress and select Map updates, but choose to install to your computer instead of the device. This will result in Maps being unpacked and unlocked in Basecamp.

Go to Basecamp and under the Maps menu verify that the map is indeed there and has the "unlocked" status.

Insert your spare USB stick and launch MapInstall. Confirm that you want to install the map to the USB stick.

MapInstall will package the map back into the Garmin\gmapsupp.img on your USB stick, but will also put a GMA file next to the image file (the name of that GMA file looks like a GUID).

Eject the stick, and go to your car. When you insert the stick into your car it will go through the validation procedure (the bigger the map the longer the validation it seems) and once it's done you will be prompted to apply the update.

So far, this was the easiest way for me to keep my map up to date with no downgrades or whatever :)
 
#35 ·
This is misleading and should have been "CTP13 firmware makes it easier to feed your unit with the map data with virtually no checks".



The reason why I'm saying this is that I update Maps on my CTP16 unit with no downgrades. In CTP14+ Garmin rolled out their GMA protection of the maps, where GMA (as far as I understand) stands for Garmin Map Authentication and this mechanism replaces the unlock files.



To easily create an update USB stick for such a system the following prerequisites should be met:

  1. a compatible Nuvi device with current Map subscription (or its GarminDevice.xml)
  2. GarminExpress installed
  3. Basecamp installed
  4. MapInstall installed
  5. a spare USB (preferably USB 2.0, but not USB 3.0 compatible) of the comparable size to your map data (in Australia it's enough to have just a 1GB stick, but for the US it will be 8GB or more)



Now, launch GarminExpress and select Map updates, but choose to install to your computer instead of the device. This will result in Maps being unpacked and unlocked in Basecamp.



Go to Basecamp and under the Maps menu verify that the map is indeed there and has the "unlocked" status.



Insert your spare USB stick and launch MapInstall. Confirm that you want to install the map to the USB stick.



MapInstall will package the map back into the Garmin\gmapsupp.img on your USB stick, but will also put a GMA file next to the image file (the name of that GMA file looks like a GUID).



Eject the stick, and go to your car. When you insert the stick into your car it will go through the validation procedure (the bigger the map the longer the validation it seems) and once it's done you will be prompted to apply the update.



So far, this was the easiest way for me to keep my map up to date with no downgrades or whatever :)

You sir are awesome :D





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#42 ·
Thanks for the replies.

Kind of unrelated: Ever since I upgraded to CTP16 (not sure what version I was on before then), no phones I have tried will no longer read or reply to texts. It says something like "this model is not compatible". Not even an iPhone, which almost all vendors trip over themselves to make compatible.
Worse, now my Droid Turbo will not connect sometimes unless I stop the car, open and close the door, and restart.

Has anyone experienced this and a downgrade helped?
 
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