The V3.0 Sync update took around half an hour to install, Meanwhile the F8 maps update took around an hour and 40mins but was in two parts, after about an hour it prompted me to turn off the car (left my usb stick plugged in), opened the door and waited 10 seconds, shut the door, started it up and it continued for another 40ish minutes. I was slightly worried when I initially plugged the stick into my RS because nothing seemed to happen for a few minutes. But the stick got warm and eventually it promoted me to commit to updating or notified me it was updating depending on which update i was doing/the progress of the update.
I used a 64GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB ‘Gigstick’ brought from amazon for ~£15 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077VYCV37/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This Gigstick comes formatted to exFat out the box so the only fight on your hands is the vacuum plastic wrap and inserting it the right way into your computer.
I used WinRAR to extract the files from the ***.zip file downloaded from Fords website after putting in my VIN and them prompting me of an update, This can be done by double clicking on the file you just downloaded, this automatically opened WinRAR up with the files contained in the .zip, Highlighted these files and drag and dropped them onto my Gigstick. took half an hour to finish extracting and copying the files across because i only had access to the slower USB2 ports on my computer.
Once the files where on the stick, Safely ejected the drive from my PC and went for a couple hour long drive, I unplugged my lightning cable from the USB port in the armrest and plugged the Gigstick into the port located below the head unit.
I was able to use the SatNav and radio while the update was underway, However I think I read somewhere you cant use CarPlay/Android Auto while updating.
Once the update is complete leave the Gigstick plugged in, Restart the car as the headunit won’t show the update till the next time its booted, The headunit will read the Gigstick again, After ~10 minutes it prompted me the update was completed, removed the Gigstick from my car and plugged it into my PC, On Fords website it then asks to upload a .XML files, If this process was successful and all the stars align the file your looking for will be in the “SyncMyRide” folder of your USB drive.
I say if the stars align because at first Ford’s website didn’t accept the .XML file, So I wiped my USB drive and copied the update over again, plugged it in and after 10 minutes my car prompted me the update was complete, Uploaded the new .XML file and their website accepted it this time.
Also when I updated the Maps to F8 it never generated the .XML file…
Another thing to note once I updated Sync to V3.0 it took 2 weeks for Fords website to acknowledged my update and allow me to download the map update.
Updating the headunit using Wifi seems like a complete waste of time because it always errors while “checking for update”, even when connected to my phones wifi hotspot so it seems the less broken method is using Ford’s website and a Gigstick.
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