[Bflauto]

I bet you're right about the xm module. I dont use xm anyways.
Im willing to bet an equinox radio with matching rpo codes will work exactly the same, but display Equinox logos and menu's in the UI.

 

[Wade10]

I'd like to thank DenverGP for the info and pics. 260 spent and, I'm gonna guess about 1200 saved! The hardest part was getting the box in and out. Everything else, take it apart, find VIN, change VIN, put back together. Easy peasy. I didn't swap CD players over and get a disc read error, but we don't use it anyway.
Great success!
Thanks!

 

[DenverGp]

I'd like to thank DenverGP for the info and pics. 260 spent and, I'm gonna guess about 1200 saved!

Glad it worked for you. Seems silly that disassembling part of the dash, and disassembling the radio, and re-writing the EEPROM is easier than dealing with the dealership to unlock a swapped in perfectly matching radio. But nice to know there is enough detail here for others to be able to repeat the process and save themselves the hassles of the dealership.
.

 

[Riverdog]

Well, rather than try to mess with another clueless dealer, I went the hacker way.

Found information about disassembling the radio itself (the silver box), to get the EEPROM chip on the circuit board, and using a $10 USB eeprom programmer off ebay, was able to change the vin myself.

Got the EEPROM updated, radio reassembled, and reinstalled in the equinox, and it's working perfectly.

If anyone else ever has to deal with this, hit me up. Time to pull radio, disassemble, flash the eeprom, reassemble and reinstall in vehicle was about 3 hours.... That's actually less time than I wasted at the dealership only to have them not be able to do it.

i have a 2017 as well with 32000 miles and warranty over in November 2019 my screen went blank to onstar says take to dealer touched positive and negative wires together "off of battery taped together to drain condensers in whole system, with no results all fuses good hardly use car looks like this is a common problem. do I do the dealer thing and then start shopping parts or take to a car stereo repairman? Could use some good info. Thanks,
Riverdog

 

[GMTool]

MyLink experience

My 2016 Equinox LT had the same problem as described in the OP's first post. The mylink system was glitchy for a long time. Sometimes the screen would go blank, with only the hvac system working. Although the hvac system worked I could not see the functions, (temp setting, blower speed, etc). The screen would eventually come back on. Then it went out for good. I removed the battery neg cable, pulled fuses, etc. Nothing worked. More than two weeks went by, the dealership was going to call me when they could get me in. One morning I started the Equinox up started backing out of the garage and I pushed the heated seats button for both driver and passenger and (BOOM) the whole Mylink system came back on and has been working like new ever since. Not even glitchy anymore. That was about a month ago now.

Thought I would just throw that info out there.

 

[c&wsinbad]

GMTool---WOW! What an interesting remedy. Coincidence or did it actually cause a "power" spike that reset something? I'm going to watch for comments from others that may explain what happened and why.

 

[GMTool]

GMTool---WOW! What an interesting remedy. Coincidence or did it actually cause a "power" spike that reset something? I'm going to watch for comments from others that may explain what happened and why.

Yeah I don't have a clue. I wasn't trying to get the system to come back on. It was cold out and I hit the heated seats buttons and all of a sudden the MyLink system kicked back on. After 2 weeks of a blank screen. Now that I think about it I really did not know if the heated seats worked anymore. I just hit the buttons without thinking about it. My Equinox came with all the bells and whistles in the center counsel, nav, auto climate control, etc. At night the center counsel was completely dark except the climate control buttons at the bottom. It's all working fine now, no glitches at all. I am kind of expecting it to mess up again one of these days. For now its all good. I called the dealership and told them never mind on bringing it in. While talking to the service advisor I kind of got the impression that they are used to glitches with the MyLink system.

 

[myonlinename]

Hi Guys... I usually don't comment in forums, I just read them for the info but these posts are just toooo good. My 2017 Equinox radio was having the same exact problems as DenverGp so take it to the dealer they quote me $1400, I say no thanks and pay $145 for the diagnosis of a bad radio unit. Went to Ebay got used radio from a wrecking yard that matches my old one, then got on youtube and found a video on how to rip it out. Got it installed, boots up fine, backup camera now works, but says LOCKED. Took it to the dealer yesterday thinking they have all the technology and know-how they should be able to easily unlock it in 10 minutes. Guess what? They couldn't unlock it said the vin in the global positioning module couldn't be changed. So leave the dealership again with a none working radio and $145 less in my pocket. So woke up this morning and started searching again and BOOM found this... I love the internet!
I thought there was no hope... I was about ready to sell the POS. So I want to Thank You for this information! I'm ordering reader today and will be keeping ya posted.

 

[DenverGp]

Feel free to reach out if you have any issues with the VIN update process, I'll be happy to help.
Good luck.

 

[Hornnumb2]

I have a 2012 Silverado that I need to change the vin in the radio, can somebody point me in right direction of the location of the eeprom chip I am looking for. Thanks

 

[DenverGp]

Whats the radio part number, I'll see if I can find anything

I have a 2012 Silverado that I need to change the vin in the radio, can somebody point me in right direction of the location of the eeprom chip I am looking for. Thanks

 

[Hornnumb2]

20934593

 

[myonlinename]

Feel free to reach out if you have any issues with the VIN update process, I'll be happy to help.
Good luck.

Thanks for the help DenverGp... I am googling as much as i can so i don't bother you too much. I found a video demoing the reader/writer but i have a question on the software. I got the file extracted (see Below) now should i first install the driver file 24CXX25XX and then which app do i chose to read/write the chip? (my virus scanner popped up giving me a warning and removed CH341A.exe saying it was a trojan so that is why it's not listed).
I give this job 4 screwdrivers out of 5... but i'm committed now, no turning back.
Thanks Again!

Update 3 youtube videos later: So I saw a post that a lot of virus protection programs will detect it as a virus when it's actually not. So I will do some more checking on it and get it back in the folder.
Let me know if this sounds about right...
STep 1: install driver 24CXX25XX
2: plug in chip programmer make sure driver's working
3: run CH341A.exe app
4: Save the file of the original chip
5 : tear apart new radio, hook up programmer read chip and save a copy just in case
6: erase chip
7: open original radio file and program it
(the radio i bought is about as close as you can get as a match so you said rewrite the whole thing...
Sound about right?)

This is now become 4 screwdrivers and a cresent wrench.
Thanks for the help!

 

[myonlinename]

Update: Got the chip read and file saved so just need to remove the radio again, disassemble and rewrite it. The chip programmer worked great, glad I had this post to guide me. I used an old laptop just to be safe from viruses but I'm sure that app is safe... it rewrites and erases chips so of course it's going to set off a virus scanner. My laptop didn't blow up when I ran it so that was good.

 

[myonlinename]

So rewrote the chip in the new radio put it back together plugged it in and BOOM it worked!! I am so happy! My only regret is that I didn't see these instructions earlier. So if your radio is lagging, erratic just what DenverGp's radio was doing. Don't waste your time at the Dealer, the service managers at my dealership look like they just graduated high school, they will just take your money and quote you $1400 for a remanufactured radio installed. The only thing the dealer is good for is the parts department can tell you which radio model you have by giving them the VIN. Mine was 84064074. You can then find a wrecking yard radio that matches, I used Wilberts on Ebay which they say you have have to take it to the dealer to be reprogrammed. I did that and wasted $130. If your not real handy you might be able to find a electronics/TV guy to rewrite the chip and your local mechanic to swap it out for you.
My total cost should of been $10 for good trim tools, $65 for the radio, and $10 for the programmer... $85 total. I screwed around with the dealer and wasted $260. But I'm still saving a bunch. I'm happy!
Thanks Again to DenverGp and others for the info. And for those who are thinking about doing it themselves... go for it. Pulling the radio the second time was easy (find a video online) and the radio comes apart easy to. There are little tabs on both sides of the XM ribbon cable that need to be lifted to remove and pressed back down when reinstalling (someone mentioned that earlier here which helped).

This is an AWESOME How-to thread!

 

[Hornnumb2]

Deleted

 

[Hornnumb2]

Deleted

 

[DenverGp]

So rewrote the chip in the new radio put it back together plugged it in and BOOM it worked!! I am so happy! My only regret is that I didn't see these instructions earlier. So if your radio is lagging, erratic just what DenverGp's radio was doing. Don't waste your time at the Dealer, the service managers at my dealership look like they just graduated high school, they will just take your money and quote you $1400 for a remanufactured radio installed. The only thing the dealer is good for is the parts department can tell you which radio model you have by giving them the VIN. Mine was 84064074. You can then find a wrecking yard radio that matches, I used Wilberts on Ebay which they say you have have to take it to the dealer to be reprogrammed. I did that and wasted $130. If your not real handy you might be able to find a electronics/TV guy to rewrite the chip and your local mechanic to swap it out for you.
My total cost should of been $10 for good trim tools, $65 for the radio, and $10 for the programmer... $85 total. I screwed around with the dealer and wasted $260. But I'm still saving a bunch. I'm happy!
Thanks Again to DenverGp and others for the info. And for those who are thinking about doing it themselves... go for it. Pulling the radio the second time was easy (find a video online) and the radio comes apart easy to. There are little tabs on both sides of the XM ribbon cable that need to be lifted to remove and pressed back down when reinstalling (someone mentioned that earlier here which helped).

This is an AWESOME How-to thread! View attachment 16872

Congrats. Doesn't it feel pretty good fixing something that even the dealership techs say can't be done?