tsam19 Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 Hello everyone, For those of you who have this Navigation System NHZN W57. I wanted to ask a few questions, see if I could get any help, before removing the unit from the vehicle. I have the hard back copies of the NHZN W57 stereo manuals, theres 3 in total. And I have used the Android Google translate app to go through every page of them. There's no option anywhere to change the language from Japanese to English on the stereo menu pages. It's locked according to country of manufacture. http://www.tph.co.jp/room/x8/avn/avn_manual/07model/NHZN-W57_Audio.pdf Theres no security code on it. 1) What I want to ask is, why won't the front panel open when the eject button is pressed (page 1 -10 pdf). And why it won't open from the touchscreen, from both touch onscreen selections (page 1 -14 pdf)? The buttons beep when pressed but the panel wont flip down. I've set the angle of display from small to big (page 1 -14 pdf). But the screen panel still doesn't open. 2) Are these NHZN W57 units re- flashable with a UK software conversion package of some sort for the main menus and sat nav maps , main radio and dvd functions? Are the cables that connect to the rear of the stereo compatible with any English stereo head unit with CCD (camera) ? Without having to install a new rear camera and other wires? Has anyone upgraded the head unit and used the same in vehicle wiring that the old unit was attached to? The device powers up and is in full Japanese, text, speech instructions etc. But not managed to tune the radio in or play a cd/dvd because of the panel not opening up. It seems a good piece of kit just the remove and throw away. Thanks for reading. If any one can answer, much appreciated.
Rojie Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 3 hours ago, tsam19 said: Hello everyone, For those of you who have this Navigation System NHZN W57. I wanted to ask a few questions, see if I could get any help, before removing the unit from the vehicle. I have the hard back copies of the NHZN W57 stereo manuals, theres 3 in total. And I have used the Android Google translate app to go through every page of them. There's no option anywhere to change the language from Japanese to English on the stereo menu pages. It's locked according to country of manufacture. http://www.tph.co.jp/room/x8/avn/avn_manual/07model/NHZN-W57_Audio.pdf Theres no security code on it. 1) What I want to ask is, why won't the front panel open when the eject button is pressed (page 1 -10 pdf). And why it won't open from the touchscreen, from both touch onscreen selections (page 1 -14 pdf)? The buttons beep when pressed but the panel wont flip down. I've set the angle of display from small to big (page 1 -14 pdf). But the screen panel still doesn't open. 2) Are these NHZN W57 units re- flashable with a UK software conversion package of some sort for the main menus and sat nav maps , main radio and dvd functions? Are the cables that connect to the rear of the stereo compatible with any English stereo head unit with CCD (camera) ? Without having to install a new rear camera and other wires? Has anyone upgraded the head unit and used the same in vehicle wiring that the old unit was attached to? The device powers up and is in full Japanese, text, speech instructions etc. But not managed to tune the radio in or play a cd/dvd because of the panel not opening up. It seems a good piece of kit just the remove and throw away. Thanks for reading. If any one can answer, much appreciated. Hi again Domino, As a generalisation the Japanese head units won't receive FM; just Radio 2 usually. They won't receive TV either as the UK and Japanese systems are different. Sat Nav won't work either as the head unit cannot connect to the correct satellites. If you replace the head unit, with some replacements you will lose the rear cameras and some steering controls; but not all replacements are so effected. Do your research carefully. The DVD should work but may need NTSC discs or s suitable set up. Not very helpful I know. Head unit replacement is a very popular topic on the Forum. Happy reading
tsam19 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Posted February 6, 2023 Hello Rojie, Thanks for the reply. My concern is why the front lcd panel doesn't open, when buttons pressed. If it opened I could at least play a cd or mp3 on an Sd card. Alternatively I'd remove the unit and put a single din plate facia in with a single standard head unit. But again it's about finding the din facia to fit in the first place.
Rojie Posted February 6, 2023 Posted February 6, 2023 52 minutes ago, tsam19 said: Hello Rojie, Thanks for the reply. My concern is why the front lcd panel doesn't open, when buttons pressed. If it opened I could at least play a cd or mp3 on an Sd card. Alternatively I'd remove the unit and put a single din plate facia in with a single standard head unit. But again it's about finding the din facia to fit in the first place. Hello again, I was reluctant to offer an opinion on the LCD panel. Clearly it could be jammed or even broken. Not helpful to you at all, I'm afraid I don't recall any other member having the same issue. I have a different unit so cannot help you. I will check my paperwork to see if I can find any info on your unit, but I am not hopeful
Rojie Posted February 6, 2023 Posted February 6, 2023 1 hour ago, tsam19 said: Hello Rojie, Thanks for the reply. My concern is why the front lcd panel doesn't open, when buttons pressed. If it opened I could at least play a cd or mp3 on an Sd card. Alternatively I'd remove the unit and put a single din plate facia in with a single standard head unit. But again it's about finding the din facia to fit in the first place. OK slow progress. There does seem to be yuutube video on how to change to English. Most of the later units can be changed. Try Navigationdisk. There are others too
tsam19 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) The you tube videos are false. It is someone merely pushing 2 or 3 onscreen buttons for a minute, while trying to guess what they are doing. Pointless waste of everyones time. There is NO English settings in the software in the NHZN W57 head unit.......... its a Japanese interface for Japan users only, these head units were never intended for English users, unless they understood the language! Not one of these videos shows a definite explanatory walk through that shows the change from Japanese to English for the NHZN W57 Av multimedia nav system. Translation is done by phone google translate app, point the camera at the screen or book and read whats been deciphered. I've been through 3 owner manual books that way ! Edited February 6, 2023 by tsam19 Info
Rojie Posted February 6, 2023 Posted February 6, 2023 3 hours ago, tsam19 said: The you tube videos are false. It is someone merely pushing 2 or 3 onscreen buttons for a minute, while trying to guess what they are doing. Pointless waste of everyones time. There is NO English settings in the software in the NHZN W57 head unit.......... its a Japanese interface for Japan users only, these head units were never intended for English users, unless they understood the language! Not one of these videos shows a definite explanatory walk through that shows the change from Japanese to English for the NHZN W57 Av multimedia nav system. Translation is done by phone google translate app, point the camera at the screen or book and read whats been deciphered. I've been through 3 owner manual books that way ! Sorry. I did not check them. I should have.
arthurj Posted February 8, 2023 Posted February 8, 2023 Yeah, there were no English options at all until the 2012 facelift, and even then only a few radio models seem to have it. I don't believe there's any English firmware you can flash and it's too niche for anyone to have spent the time to hack it. I believe that there were some Euro map SD cards for some models that you might be able to purchase. They would be a few years out of date though. That blue port on the back of yours is a VTR-in (video in). You can purchase a VTR cable from amazon.jp https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/VTR-01-6P-Toyota-NHZN-W57-External-Adapter/dp/B00NPKTAG2 In theory you can them mirror your phone or some other device to the screen to show maps. The screen cuts out when you go above a certain speed but it's an easy modification to change that. I bought that cable for mine (NHZN-X62G) ages ago but haven't got round to trying it yet. That said, if your screen doesn't actually open it would be far less hassle to replace it with an Android unit.
tsam19 Posted February 15, 2023 Author Posted February 15, 2023 arthurj, thanks for reply. Managed to get the front to open as it should. Possibly last owner didn't use it. So now able to get 1 x AM radio station and 1 x FM radio station working. I notice there is a slide door with a usb socket behind it. Looks like the head unit can be plugged into a laptop maybe. Be interesting to find the right lead and computer software. And anyway to put a UK map on it, If any exist. There is a hard drive in the NHZN W57, I played a CD and the songs were recorded onto the hard drive. Pretty cool! As for finding those SD card UK maps, unsure of where to look. The GPS sensor in the vehicle works, however onscreen there is no UK map to synch with the GPS sensor, just a blank screen and the compass top left corner. The unit can stay in the car, everything works, radio , dvd , cd , sd slot , rear roof screen, reverse camera and remote control etc, pointless removing it and binning it.
Chris.ac Posted March 6, 2023 Posted March 6, 2023 (edited) You are out of luck regarding English. 2012 is when they started exporting officially to some regions like Russia, UAE and China(Hong Kong), these export models usually had lower spec headunits for 8 speaker internal amp, and 11 speaker external amp. Because they were export models, they had several language choices. The problem is, the wiring loom for the headunit have subtle differences which makes a straight swap more complicated. The good news is, that these had full range fm, and better satnav Map regions Edited March 6, 2023 by Chris.ac
tsam19 Posted March 6, 2023 Author Posted March 6, 2023 (edited) Yup, been through the whole NHZN W57 booklet(s) using Google translate. No English settings, quite a few functions can't be used. Not a problem! Found my way round the head unit system touch screen settings. It plays cds/dvds and reverse camera works. Sd slot works. As for the NHZN W57 radio, it doesn't have full range FM. Japan bandwidth narrower than UK. Japan radio FM range covers 76 - 90mHz only. And thats the range to choose from onsreen. As for UK/ Europe maps on a SD card. Not found any anywhere, some advice suggests none were made for this head unit. Being that its sole intended use was for Japan soil only. I'm happy to leave it in the vehicle. Edited March 6, 2023 by tsam19 Info
tsam19 Posted March 10, 2023 Author Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) For anyone with the same system (NHZN W57), there are 2 SD card slots. And from the instruction manual is suggests the maximum sized SD card the head unit can use is 2GB max only. Including micro sd in an adapter or full size. I tried a 128GB card in it and it didn't register. I understand the head unit can format the SD card into the file structure as depicted in the manual ready for use. See pics. There is a mention of using a specific Panasonic Jukebox pc tool software to convert or code songs to wma or mp3 format on the SD card. The exact Panasonic model number of this NHZN W57 is 08545-00Q21 Ref CQ-HS0701CJ If anyone knows how to or where to go to get the internal HDD updated to the lastest software, then do get in touch. Edited March 10, 2023 by tsam19 Info
tsam19 Posted April 15, 2023 Author Posted April 15, 2023 Mentioned at the start of the post. The front lcd screen panel on the NHZN W57 wouldn't open. Turns out because of a sticky dry or worn cog in the drive mechanism! A slight whack on the top facia panel seemed to free the screen to open and shut. For anyone interested, there is lots of useful info on these Japan audio head units. But only on Japanese websites. However you need a VPN set to a Japan IP address, otherwise you won't be able to read the articles. You will also need auto translate to read them too. https://area456.eshizuoka.jp/e1956827.html https://minkara.carview.co.jp/smart/userid/381088/car/288341/1492540/note.aspx In the above minkara link, it shows how to access the head unit secret diagnostic pages built into the head unit software. Hope this helps someone out in the future.
Clutha Posted April 28, 2023 Posted April 28, 2023 Thanks for the links, I’m hoping to suss out my 2002 Alphard G radio functions before looking into changeout options. Currently investigating minidisc use 😉
BrianTin Posted June 27 Posted June 27 Hi. I have this unit in a 2008 Toyota Vitz Japanese import. Can someone tell me what might be a suitable replacement for it please?
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