Nissan Qashqai Navigation

LCN2KAI

The multimedia system

This unit is very common in Nissan models from 2014 to 2019. It is made by Bosch and is called Nissan Connect 3 or LCN2KAI. It's internals run on Linux and the sdcard ID (CID) is used to prevent customers "messing" with the content on the sdcard (maps).

One big problem is the preinstalled speedcams on the Nissan Connect 3. The idea is that you can get an attention beep if you approach a speedcam listed in this file. These date from 2013 and cannot be removed by the customer. The name of this file is Alerts_0913.ntq and can be overwritten if the customer buys a new set at Nissan. Which is weird since customers can put their own warning pois on it at the first place.

The information on this page is not my own. I only put it here for myself as a note and for educational purposes only.

Note: I don't encourage anyone to do this. All is done at your own risk.


The hack

The old speedcam annoyance motivates customers to find ways around the problem.
When a customer bought a 2nd hand unit to play with we got root access.
Then other customers jumped on the wagon and created scripts for USB sticks that set things "straight" on the unit.


Removing the speedcams

Read here:
https://richard.burtons.org/2021/04/24/removing-alerts_0913-ntq-from-nissan-connect/


Removing the CID protection

Read here:
https://richard.burtons.org/2021/04/26/allowing-map-modifications-on-nissan-connect/

I am running Nissan Connect 3 V7 Europe maps now on any ordinary 16/32Gb sdcard.


Write the Ext2 image to an USB stick

I have prepared the ext2 image for you. See below. It does remove the (factory-) speedcams and the CID protection. Use at your own risk!!!
The image only works with firmware D554 or D605 (is latest).
With the windows utility win32diskimager you can write this image to any USB stick. The image is very small and you don't need to format it first.

The ext2 disk image to write to an USB stick can be downloaded here.

Note: you can view the ext2 image with 7-zip and see what is inside ;)
Note: you cannot read the USB stick anymore on windows after imaging. For reusing the stick you need to reformat it
Note: you do need to reinstall your custom speedcam csv file

The procedure in the car

Put the USB stick into the USB port under the arm rest. Long press the power button to reboot the LCNKAI2.
It works when the system shows the Nissan logo and then reboots again. Pull out the USB stick now.


Decompressing the (MAP) files

https://github.com/sapphire-bt/lcn2kai-decompress
If for some reason you want to decompress any of the content on the card you can use this Python script.


Firmware update to D605

I updated my firmware from the very old D053 (from 2013) to D605 without problems. Instructions for that can be found on youtube. Please note that this can go horribly wrong if you don't follow the instructions. Use at your own risk!!!


Other possibilities with root and the LCN2KAI

You tell me. Unlock other features? More info on possibilities here.

What comes to mind:

  • mediaplayer play avi/mp4

  • install a file manager

  • add wifi

  • add custom apps

  • ...