[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.

 

[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

 

[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?

 

[anarro1007]

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

Hey what do u charge to re program my 2013 equinox radio I traded my camry in since my wife wanted an suv. Well the radio comes on and go and sometimes it don't come on then out of no where it turns on and it glitches off and on for a good 10 mine then goes off again. Then it stays blank while radio plays. It's very frustrating! Can I send u my radio and u can do the programming? I have no clue what to do or how re programming works...wish there was a video that is a how to step by step video to get it all to work properly.. I read the whole forum and I was happy I found this method but I need videos on how yall got this to work. Like how do I know what code to put in or move that's what confused me. Let me know what u need or what I need on my end... Be nice we could do this remotely over the computer. And let u do your thing..

 

[anarro1007]

Thanks this is a must. I went to my local junk yard and I couldn't find no equinox out there and I'm sure if I did I'm sure the screen wouldn't be attached. But I'm going to order the programming thing.

 

[anarro1007]

hey i got a question when hooking up the chip reader to the board which one do i remove? the touch screen and dissemble or the bottom cd player? and can someone link me to the driver the file is excerpted. and is there a video on how to do this? i just want my radio to work thats all i been a month with out a radio!

 

[marcusrob]

Feel free to reach out if you have any issues with the VIN update process, I'll be happy to help.
Good luck Hello Denver, I was wondering if you can please help with the VIN update process. I bought a CH341A and no luck with reading eeprom. Is there additional files I need for this? I have the software on my computer and driver-- 24CXX25XX installed, my redlight is on brite and solid, my green light comes on for the read this. CH341A looks likes the same one you guys are using. This is for my 2017 Terrain the replacement radio is identical the chip is 24128RT

 

[DenverGp]

Inside the .RAR file that contained the driver is the executable that runs the eeprom reader

You are looking for CH341A.EXE

Once you run it, you should get a screen like:

I think in some cases, the eeprom programmer will automatically detect the chip type, but the options shown above should read it correctly. Once you set the Type, Manu, Name fields, then you should be able to click the "read" button and display the eeprom data.

 

[DenverGp]

Also note: in some cases, the software displays the little "chip socket" picture incorrectly.

You want the clip connected to the reader board as shown in this messy picture.
Pin 1 of the little "header board" is closest to the lever handle. And the red wire on the cable also closest to the handle. Additionally, note the position of the little yellow jumper.

And the clip attaching to the eeprom on the radio needs to be in this orientation: