How to: Update UConnect 8.4" via USB drive.

[DailyDrivenTJ]

*YOU DO THIS UPGRADE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM MERELY SHARING MY EXPERIENCE OF SUCCESSFULLY DOING THE UPDATE. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. THERE WILL NOT BE ANY SUPPORT IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES ARISE FROM FOLLOWING THIS UPDATE PROCEDURE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.*

In the midst of debugging my TrailCam installation for my 2023 JTRD, I stumbled upon updating UConnect Stereo via USB A connection available to the right side of the window controls on JL/JT and other Jeep platforms. However, I found no sepcific guide available for JTs. So here I am, writing it.

From what I read, the Over The Air (OTA) update is no longer pushed out by Uconnect/Chrysler for the newer Jeeps and that the updates are only provided by the dealers. It sorta makes sense as the update is over 1GB and that is a lot of data to push into individual vehicles.

If you have factory warranty, the dealer should provide it for free, otherwise the update is provided for a fee.

This guide is for those like to get stuff done on their own. I am sharing what I did and hope you find it useful.

Indication:

Please see the attached TSB for covered vehicles, issues and repairs that the firmware update is covering.

Customers may experience one or more of the following:
• **Wi-Fi hotspot connection failure.
• Speaker popping, crackle noise during Voice Recognition (VR) response and navigation guidance.
• Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) missing from radio, no connected services working.**
• Intermittent, black radio display screen (Rear View Camera (RVC) not affected).
• Intermittent, radio freezes (RVC not affected).
• Wireless connectivity pairing and/or connection issues. • Lost radio presets. • Radio channels change by itself.
• SXM icon inoperative.
• SXM favorite song not displaying/playing.
• Incorrect navigation address/location/directions.
• Backup camera has black display screen or only displays Check Entire Surroundings with black screen (occurs when vehicle is shifted immediately to reverse upon key-on before RVC signal is received, recoverable with key cycle) .
• High pitch chime noise.
• Contact list not loading.
• Device not supported message.
• Remote app inoperative.
• Travel-Link fuel price incorrect.
• Backup camera gridlines missing.
• Unable to adjust volume.

In addition, the following enhancement are included in this update:
• Enables map updates.
• Heavy Duty (HD) Truck USB HUB improvements.
• HDTruck heated steering wheel improvemens.


Version:

Firmware update v 40.1 (Over 1GB).


Warning:

***You can brick your headunit if you don't do it properly.**

From what I have learned is that when you try to update old unit with old firmware tends to not finish the update and falls into infinite loop. The work around is to do incremental upgrades to a safe/known version then apply the latest upgrade. I do not know of the "old but yet" safe version.

I have read that someone had successful update going from as old as v22.64 to v40.1.

*V22.42.11 REPORTEDLY has been successfully updated.
*V22.42.13 has been successfully updated.

How to figure out what version you have:

Hold the short cuts on the bottom left and right. As seen below until screen changes and you will get into "Dealer Mode".

In this mode, you want to get into the Radio Information.

You will see a very similar screen below.

In the "Application Version", you see USA-.......39.7.0-......

That "39.7" is the Application version.

Mine is relatively new, but not the latest.

Where to get the software:

Link to the Firmware Version 40.1

https://www.mediafire.com/file/guzmk27vexkr33x/UCONNECT_UAQ_8.4_QR40.1_MY18-21.zip/file

Approximately 1.1GB. as of 7/11/2024, the file is still downloadable.

What to do next:

Take screen shots of all the important information on Uconnect. IE: SXM account number....

Download the file above.

Unzip the files while preserving the directory structure:

You will get a directory named: "\VP4R_Update\" with bunch of files inside.

Format a good functioning USB drive with enough space to Fat32.

*This is done by right clicking on the USB drive then selecting "Format". If you don't know how to do this. Then you should look it up on Google How to format USB drive to Fat32. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FORMAT YOUR HARD DRIVE.

I personally used Sandisk 16gb USB 3.0 capable drive.
https://a.co/d/bsWqDfp

Move "\VP4R_Update\" and all of its contents into root of the USB drive.

Plug the USB drive into the dash USB A port.

I started my vehicle and kept it running as I wanted to have stable battery voltage during the entire update process.

And you will get a prompt asking if you want to upgrade. Proceed through that prompt and you will get the following timer. Let the timer expire. You can see where I plugged in the USB drive.

Once timer runs out, you will get the following screen.

While the count down stated 30 plus minutes, mine took about 25min.

And the unit will reset on its own and the first screen will tell you that the update present in the USB drive is the same as the current one. This means you successfully upgraded your HU.

You can reaccess the dealer mode and check "Radio" information and you shall see the following screen. You can see the Application Version is now 40.1.

*IT IS POSSIBLE THAT YOU MAY NOT SEE ALL YOUR APPS RIGHT WAY. I READ PEOPLE REPORTING THEIR APPS BACK ALMOST 24 HOURS LATER and also having to reset all their settings again. Having said that, all the apps were present immediately for me.

Impression:

I started researching into this upgrade because my parking guideline and TrailCam were functioning intermittently. The issue turned out to be because I did not seat CVPM CAN IHS connector all the way down.

Nonetheless, the upgrade made the entire interface feel more fluent and faster. Navigation loads within a few of seconds and offroad page loads faster too. Definitely an upgrade.

GOOD LUCK!

*YOU DO THIS UPGRADE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM MERELY SHARING MY EXPERIENCE. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.

Reference:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/new-update-for-8-4-uconnect-radio.107222/

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[johnchabin]

Nice write up

“Intermittent, radio freezes (RVC not affected).”

I see this if using a map and streaming music at the same time while plugged in to the center console. Plugging into the dash is much more stable. Maybe this will help.

 

[DailyDrivenTJ]

Nice write up

“Intermittent, radio freezes (RVC not affected).”

I see this if using a map and streaming music at the same time while plugged in to the center console. Plugging into the dash is much more stable. Maybe this will help.

Let us know how it works out!

The update made overall unit noticeably more responsive. Check your current version before proceeding.

 

[johnchabin]

Version 40.1.0

Looks current.

Thanks again for the great write up.

 

[SF_E60]

Need to check what version I'm on. My gladiator is a 2020. Thanks for the post and writeup. So if you are out of warranty I guess you don't get it for free. That's shitty. How were you able to score the update if you don't mind me asking?

 

[DailyDrivenTJ]

Need to check what version I'm on. My gladiator is a 2020. Thanks for the post and writeup. So if you are out of warranty I guess you don't get it for free. That's shitty. How were you able to score the update if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah that is what I read about someone paying for the update. Feel free to read through ~40 pages of thread from JL forum that I referenced.

I believe either Ram crews got a hold of the files or JL owner who purchased the map upgrade also received the 40.1 update and shared it with the world. I am merely desparate enough read over 70 pages of information (most of them from JLForum) had an entire weekends to try it on my Gladiator and got a good result. I figured I benefited from it and didn't see anyone presenting this information for the JT group, why not share it.

V40.1 file credit goes to the trail blazers from both Ram and JL forum members. They usually had it hosted on someone's Google Drive, but they probably got a warning for generating traffic with 1GB file and link broke. Then someone got it hosted in rather gray website.

FYI, I downloaded it a couple of days ago and successfully updated my unit. The link may change/expire without any warning.

 

[Mojave2021]

I tried to do this today with a usb drive that only has an option to format as exFat. The JT is not able to read it. I assume it must be FAT32 and not exfat? I had thought they were compatible.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I tried to do this today with a usb drive that only has an option to format as exFat. The JT is not able to read it. I assume it must be FAT32 and not exfat? I had thought they were compatible.

How big is the drive? You may need to get a smaller one, like 8gb. Anything bigger than 32gb may not be compatible with the head unit.

 

[DailyDrivenTJ]

I tried to do this today with a usb drive that only has an option to format as exFat. The JT is not able to read it. I assume it must be FAT32 and not exfat? I had thought they were compatible.

We don't get to decide what is compatible. FAT32 is what is required and FAT32 it is. They are using some proprietary OS no one know what file system it uses.

 

[DailyDrivenTJ]

You guys are braver than me. Remember if this update freezes, you may be looking at bricking the headunit. I did not make up this instruction. I pieced them together after reading information scattered throughout 8 different posts across two different platforms.

I used this USB Drive after reading someone reporting success with it.

SanDisk 16GB Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ48-016G-GAM46, Black https://a.co/d/bsWqDfp

Entire 7 dollars invested and I got it next day. Mind you I live in Seattle, WA.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Need to check what version I'm on. My gladiator is a 2020. Thanks for the post and writeup. So if you are out of warranty I guess you don't get it for free. That's shitty. How were you able to score the update if you don't mind me asking?

You can get the head unit update, if it is needed, by ordering a Map Update. Part of the order process has you check and enter the current version. If the head unit is old enough, it may require two or more updates. The Map Update only works with the latest version, so they send it to be loaded before the Map Update is done.

I'll have to find the USB drive they sent me and see what's on it. I ordered a Map Update for my 2020 Overland, that I recently traded for a 2023 HA. The head unit did seem to function better after the update. They send a notice with the Map Update that it will only work for you, and require a code to be entered. Many probably assume that this also applies to the Head Unit updates and don't try to share it. There is also the possibility that the Head Unit can be bricked during an update, and nobody wants to be involved in doing that to someone they know.

 

[SF_E60]

You can get the head unit update, if it is needed, by ordering a Map Update. Part of the order process has you check and enter the current version. If the head unit is old enough, it may require two or more updates. The Map Update only works with the latest version, so they send it to be loaded before the Map Update is done.

I'll have to find the USB drive they sent me and see what's on it. I ordered a Map Update for my 2020 Overland, that I recently traded for a 2023 HA. The head unit did seem to function better after the update. They send a notice with the Map Update that it will only work for you, and require a code to be entered. Many probably assume that this also applies to the Head Unit updates and don't try to share it. There is also the possibility that the Head Unit can be bricked during an update, and nobody wants to be involved in doing that to someone they know.

Interesting, good to know. Thanks for sharing. I used the navigation on the jeep maybe a handful of times and switched over to using apple car play.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Interesting, good to know. Thanks for sharing. I used the navigation on the jeep maybe a handful of times and switched over to using apple car play.

I used the NAV a lot for the first year. I switched to Android Auto and Google Maps. It's nice to have an option that doesn't need an internet connection. I had the truck for a couple years, and the Map Update was on sale for $99. The head unit update was the biggest benefit of the Map Update. That truck was one of the earlier ones (build started 3/28/2019).

 

[Mojave2021]

How big is the drive? You may need to get a smaller one, like 8gb. Anything bigger than 32gb may not be compatible with the head unit.

It’s 64GB. Looks like there’s a way to convert it from exfat to Fat32 via a few steps but I think I’m going to just pass on this effort. Thought it may fix my nav that always shows me 100 miles south of where I’m at but I never use the factory Nav anyways.

 

[fourfa]

Hoping not to have to read all 43 pages on the JL forum right now - but IIUC this is only necessary once out of warranty? While covered by warranty we are receiving the software updates by default? (assuming LTE to the head unit is functional)

(my ‘22 under warranty looks to be on v40.12)

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