Recently bought a used 2013 Chevy Spark LS to tow behind a Class C RV and ended up liking the car enough to sell off our normal run around car for daily use. The Spark was more fun.
The stock radio, however was blah. I saw the LT model’s Mylink radio and thought it would be a neat upgrade, if I could procure a used "take off" unit for a good price.
Shopping online brought this to our garage:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192109883673?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
(2013 Chevy Spark LT Mylink head unit, with fascia, bottom plug with small bottom fascia, in really good shape)
to replace 2013 Chevy Spark LS base model radio with aux input. I offered 140 plus 10 shipping for the head unit and accessories and the deal was done.
I got a set of plastic spurgers (referenced below) to help pry off the dash fascia, removed the fascia, unscrewed the head unit’s four phillips mounting screws and drew out the head unit. I had to use a small flat blade screwdriver to release the tab on the squarish multi-plug, which then is released by pushing down on the release lever, sliding the plug out. The cable running to the other side of the radio was tough to release and I struggled with it but finally got it to come off. I then plug and played the replacement head unit into place restoring the cable and the white multi-plug.
Turning on the new head unit displayed a “LOCKED” message on the main screen after five seconds. Turns out the LT upgrade Mylink head unit is locked to the VIN number of the original vehicle, thus the locked message.
I researched the problem on the internet for a few days. Most of the help with the hardware/eprom problem came from this Cruze site:
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-gen1-audio-electronics/55641-mylink-upgrade-diy-11.html
and various foreign sites with guys in Russia, etc. trying to swap out Chevy hardware from vehicle to vehicle.
This one was pivotal because it showed me where to find the eprom chip I needed to reprogram:
https://www.drive2.ru/l/6210325/
The guy who sold me the unit on eBay said he didn’t know it was locked and gave me a partial refund and offered to author a letter stating he was the original owner and removed the unit to install an aftermarket stereo. Rather than go to the dealer and see if I could get them to use their Scantool II to reprogram the head unit for $60 or so I decided to make a project out of it.
What I learned:
I repeatedly tried to change the VIN number on the chip, replacing what appeared to be the old VIN with my car’s number. One problem was the number of characters displayed in hex on the chip didn’t seem to be comparable with the 17 characters in my car’s VIN. So two tries at reading and replacing the VIN resulted in “LOCKED.” I did read however that others had wiped the eprom chip clean, reinstalled the radio and the logic unit of the car initialised the eprom with the VIN. I haven’t removed the head unit to re-read the chip since I wiped and installed it. Since it now works, I can assume it’s probably so. Bottom line: the Mylink now works.
I am going to post some pictures which hopefully are worth a few thousand words.
References:
Kris Kasprzak Youtube video with links to software and notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ChYNwunUE
—————————————————
Chip clip to allow read and write of chip without desoldering:
SOIC8 SOP8 Test Clip For EEPROM 93CXX / 25CXX / 24CXX in-circuit FAST SHIP USA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262294374999?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT———————————————————
USB stick programmer to plug into usb port of PC (powered by software from Kasprzak links, referenced above)
SMAKN® USB Programmer CH341A Series Burner Chip 24 EEPROM BIOS LCD Writer 25 SPI Flash
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013Q5P3ES/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
————————————————————————————
Neiko 20765A Auto Trim Removal | Heavy Duty Nylon Fiber Composite Body Installer Pry Scraper Fastener Panel Molding | 11-Piece Set
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H2QWFH0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
—————————————————————
3ft CablesOnline USB 2.0 Mini-B 5-Pin to Mini-B 5-Pin Male/Male Cable, USB2-5503
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T28JQUG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The stock radio, however was blah. I saw the LT model’s Mylink radio and thought it would be a neat upgrade, if I could procure a used "take off" unit for a good price.
Shopping online brought this to our garage:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192109883673?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
(2013 Chevy Spark LT Mylink head unit, with fascia, bottom plug with small bottom fascia, in really good shape)
to replace 2013 Chevy Spark LS base model radio with aux input. I offered 140 plus 10 shipping for the head unit and accessories and the deal was done.
I got a set of plastic spurgers (referenced below) to help pry off the dash fascia, removed the fascia, unscrewed the head unit’s four phillips mounting screws and drew out the head unit. I had to use a small flat blade screwdriver to release the tab on the squarish multi-plug, which then is released by pushing down on the release lever, sliding the plug out. The cable running to the other side of the radio was tough to release and I struggled with it but finally got it to come off. I then plug and played the replacement head unit into place restoring the cable and the white multi-plug.
Turning on the new head unit displayed a “LOCKED” message on the main screen after five seconds. Turns out the LT upgrade Mylink head unit is locked to the VIN number of the original vehicle, thus the locked message.
I researched the problem on the internet for a few days. Most of the help with the hardware/eprom problem came from this Cruze site:
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-gen1-audio-electronics/55641-mylink-upgrade-diy-11.html
and various foreign sites with guys in Russia, etc. trying to swap out Chevy hardware from vehicle to vehicle.
This one was pivotal because it showed me where to find the eprom chip I needed to reprogram:
https://www.drive2.ru/l/6210325/
The guy who sold me the unit on eBay said he didn’t know it was locked and gave me a partial refund and offered to author a letter stating he was the original owner and removed the unit to install an aftermarket stereo. Rather than go to the dealer and see if I could get them to use their Scantool II to reprogram the head unit for $60 or so I decided to make a project out of it.
What I learned:
I repeatedly tried to change the VIN number on the chip, replacing what appeared to be the old VIN with my car’s number. One problem was the number of characters displayed in hex on the chip didn’t seem to be comparable with the 17 characters in my car’s VIN. So two tries at reading and replacing the VIN resulted in “LOCKED.” I did read however that others had wiped the eprom chip clean, reinstalled the radio and the logic unit of the car initialised the eprom with the VIN. I haven’t removed the head unit to re-read the chip since I wiped and installed it. Since it now works, I can assume it’s probably so. Bottom line: the Mylink now works.
I am going to post some pictures which hopefully are worth a few thousand words.
References:
Kris Kasprzak Youtube video with links to software and notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ChYNwunUE
—————————————————
Chip clip to allow read and write of chip without desoldering:
SOIC8 SOP8 Test Clip For EEPROM 93CXX / 25CXX / 24CXX in-circuit FAST SHIP USA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262294374999?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT———————————————————
USB stick programmer to plug into usb port of PC (powered by software from Kasprzak links, referenced above)
SMAKN® USB Programmer CH341A Series Burner Chip 24 EEPROM BIOS LCD Writer 25 SPI Flash
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013Q5P3ES/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
————————————————————————————
Neiko 20765A Auto Trim Removal | Heavy Duty Nylon Fiber Composite Body Installer Pry Scraper Fastener Panel Molding | 11-Piece Set
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H2QWFH0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
—————————————————————
3ft CablesOnline USB 2.0 Mini-B 5-Pin to Mini-B 5-Pin Male/Male Cable, USB2-5503
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T28JQUG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
