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Auto Day/Night GPS at night too dark to show roads

Discussion in 'Prius v Audio and Electronics' started by BubbleDogs, Sep 4, 2014.

  1. BubbleDogs

    BubbleDogs Junior Member

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    I have 2012 Prius v. One February night, while I was driving the highway, the GPS system turned to the night mode (auto setting). After a while, the screen got so dark, all I could see was the arrow (your car). I could take a couple of pictures of the screen.
    It was useless as I could not see roads. I brought the car to the Toyota Service, and unlucky me, I got a really bad service rep. To make a long story short, it took him 5 mos to get the replacement part (screen). When I finally went to the appointment to get the new screen installed, the guy was gone. Luckily, he was replaced by a really competent service rep. He got the part within one week, and the new screen was installed.

    However, the GPS did the same thing even that night. He got dimmed so dark in the night mode that the screen basically got all black except for the car icon. I also noticed that I could not switch the map to the music by pressing the button. I could do that before. Now it does not - sometime it does. So when I shuffle the music, and wanted to know the name of the music, I cannot.

    I brought my car back to the service again, and showed the service rep the photos and the screen of the night mode. It is dark and the writing become so small and grey, I could not read them. But the Toyota service think it is the way it is supposed to. I also showed him the inability of switching from map to the music screen.

    They tested the system, software, and everything turned out ok. I am uploading 2 sets of photos - one with Auto day/night mode (night) which is bright and easy to see, and one with the night mode screen that is just too dark to see but Toyota says that it is what it is supposed to. It has been such a long time since I had the normal night mode that I forgot what it looked like. But I do remember that I had no problem reading the map at night.

    So the Service rep will call Toyota tomorrow to see if there has been the similar problems before.

    Does your night mode look like the bright one or the dark one?

    Thank you for your input!
     

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  2. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Mine looks exactly the same IF I have it in "Automatic" Day/Night mode under Map Settings. However I don't use that mode, I have mine on Day mode only. It will dim at night in concert with the dash lights but it is then a dimmer version of a daylight screen. No font inversion and the background still has color.

    If I were to guess, I would think Night mode is to allow the map to be on the screen without it being legible on purpose, in other words like dimming the dash all the way so that your low light vision can more easily see the deer in the road on a really dark night. Try it on Day mode. Finally, the 3D direction setting makes the fonts much easier to read in any light. However I prefer the 2D North up map as it gives an indication of my true direction based on the arrow.

    P.S. When I am on a "really dark road" I either switch to Audio for a lower brightness screen, OR I turn off the screen altogether through the main Display settings
     
    #2 rjparker, Sep 5, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2014
  3. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    I found the system firmware update solved similar issues on our 2012 v Five, especially with lighting in AUTO mode.

    The procedure can be found elsewhere on PC and requires a memory stick to load via the onboard USB port.
     
    #3 Air_Boss, Sep 5, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2014
  4. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    I thought I was the only one with is issue!

    Mine is a 2012 v 5 non-ATP. Have just over 25k miles.

    System is set to "Automatic Brightness". At night, the nav screen is very dark so you only see your vehicle icon and a very faint dimmed illegible image of the map. Tried adjusting the dash brightness control on the lower left side of the dash but it has no effect, unless the wheel is turned within the "detent" where it goes into the super bright Day mode. Seems the auto brightness worked as designed before but just no noticed this issue. Something to do with mileage? I just turned over 25k. That would be too strange. What's the mileage onyour car OP? (Bubbledogs)

    Going in for my last free Toyotacare service next Saturday. Will have to ask service guys to check it out.....unless anyone else on thos cool forum has the solution.
     
  5. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Check my post above. It's been the same on mine since day one. It's one of those design issues like the rear speakers.
     
  6. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    I hope not! The difference here is that mine was not like this before.
    Will post the Toyota service guys excuse, I mean solution, next weekend.
     
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Try the Day mode. They have changed the default from Day to Auto during some system update.
     
  8. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    Every mode I try at night is either full bright or illegible dark.
     
  9. BubbleDogs

    BubbleDogs Junior Member

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    Interesting... prevee5, mine is currently around 27000 miles. And this thing started to happen in the late February. Before then, I had no problem with auto (day/night) mode. I could see everything clearly in the night mode in the Auto mode.

    Now if I turned the engine in the evening, it still gives me the clear bright screen just like before (via auto mode). But when I choose the night mode, it got dimmed so much that I could no longer can use it. I guess the solution, if it is the way it is as rjparker said, is to keep the day mode. It is so strange through that the night mode gets so dark that it only shows the arrow eventually. And it was not like this before.

    One problem remains.... when the map screen is on, now I cannot change it to "Audio." Sometimes I can, but most of the time, I cannot.
     
  10. ftl

    ftl Explicator

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    If you're still under warranty you should get this checked out at the dealer. Replacing the head unit out of warranty is very expensive.
     
  11. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    image.jpg image.jpg

    Here's what my display looks like.....
    Auto mode GPS display, headlights switched off at night,
    Auto mode GPS display at night, headlights in auto. (Too dark and illegible)

    Curious to hear if the 25k mile threshold has something to do with this.
    Please check your systems and post!
     
    #11 prevee5, Sep 8, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2014
  12. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Coincidentally, we are at 21000 and don't have the issue -- but had the issue prior to the second firmware upgrade.

    Why do you think it is mileage-related?
     
  13. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    Oh....just because I happened to notice the problem right after hitting 25k miles as did another previous poster above. Probably just a concidence but who knows with the tech gremlins in cars these days. By the way, what's the story behind your need for your first and second firmware upgrade?
     
  14. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Just updating the audio head to current version firmware. No other reason. Some beneficial results noted in GPS handling of maps, and in audio system handling of USB inputs and USB power output -- no more "overcurrent" warnings and USB port shutdowns while charging the Nokia.
     
  15. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    Did you do the firmware update on your own or did the dealer do it?
    If you did it, how did you do it?
    If the dealer did it, was it a warranty issue? What problem did you report to the dealer, etc.?
     
  16. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    It's a DIY, using instructions on PC.

    Never bothered with the dealer. No need.
     
  17. BubbleDogs

    BubbleDogs Junior Member

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    Did you google Prius firmware update?
     
  18. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    No but I read somewhere on PC thar it's a download to a flash drive and you follow a procedure.

    Any links? Specific for the v?

    Wanna read up on it before my visit to the dealer this weekend.
     
  19. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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  20. prevee5

    prevee5 Member

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    Ok...just to follow up, v was in the shop this past Saturday for its last "free" Toyotacare service at 25k+ miles. Had them check out the seemingly permanent Day mode on my GPS screen. Ie. map screen would not dim at night, even with headlights on and dash brightness knob out of the detent position. Map brightness and headligts in Auto mode as well.

    Was on Entune v2.1. Told them I read something online that an update to 3.2 might be the fix. They never heard about it. Anyway, picked up the car. Entune was updated to v3.2. Tried out the screen at night and it stayed in Day mode....no change. However, I did read online that if you press Setup - Display, there will be a button labeled Day Mode. This will only appear when headlights are on. The Day Mode button will have a vertical orange bar to the left of it indicating it is on. If you touch it to deselect it, the screen will now dim when the headlights are on. Mine did not have this option prior to v3.2. But, it appears the dimmed screen is still darker than it was when the car was new. Street names are very hard to read. May have to live with it this way. Dealer was at least willing to work with me however, saying to bring it in again if not satisfied.
     
    #20 prevee5, Sep 15, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2014