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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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AUX cable & device connected

AUX cable, device & USB device connected

AUX cable, device & 2 USB devices connected

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #19: Unable to Locate the GPS Information Screen
CAUSE:
The detailed GPS Information screen is only available if the GPS signal becomes weak.
RECOMMENDATION:
On the “Navigation Menu” screen, the GPS signal strength indicator is always available at the
top right of the screen as shown below. In addition, if the GPS signal strength becomes weak, a
Satellite icon will show when the MAP screen is displayed. If this Satellite icon (also a soft key)
is pressed, the GPS information screen will be displayed which indicates how many satellites are
currently being received along with the accuracy of the GPS signal.

The GPS Signal strength
indicator is always available for
reference in the upper right of the
“Navigation Menu” screen.

If the GPS signal becomes weak, a
Satellite icon will appear in the upper
right corner of the MAP screen. Touch
the icon to show the GPS information.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #20: The Navigation system often routes the user off the highway, and onto rough
surface (dirt / gravel) roads.
CAUSE:
In the Route Settings menu, the “Highways” selection box is unchecked.

RECOMMENDATION:
Check the Highways selection box by following these steps:
• Select “Menu” on the Map Screen
• Select “More”
• Select “Settings”
• Select “Route Settings”
• When “Highways” is checked the navigation system will always consider using highways
first when planning routes.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #21: When the Speed Limit is displayed, “Alert Signs” are not displayed, even when
“Warning Sign Alerts” and Alert Point Settings” are enabled.
CAUSE:
Display of the Speed Limit takes priority over Warning Sign Alerts and Alert Point Warnings.
If the Speed Limit is being displayed as shown in Pic 1 below, the other warnings will not be
displayed.

Speed Limit Displayed

Warning Sign Alerts and Alert Point Warnings are enabled

RECOMMENDATION:
1.

If the Speed Limit is not being displayed on screen, other warning and alert signs will be
displayed as shown below in Pic 4 provided those settings are enabled.

2. If the Speed Limit Warning is disabled, only the warning and alert signs will be displayed
(provided those settings are enabled).

Warning Sign

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #22: A Clock icon is

displayed next to the Sirius / XM (SXM) presets.

(2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen 2.1 Navigation / Display Audio system)
CAUSE:
This is a feature called Smart Favorites which allows the user to cache (store in the unit’s internal
memory) broadcast content on up to 5 separate SXM stations at one time.
RECOMMENDATION:
To set up Smart Favorites on the SXM presets:
1. Setup your SXM Presets

2. Press the Settings button.

3. On the SXM Options screen, press the
“Smart Favs Setup” button

4. Select 5 of the SXM presets to be the Smart
Favorites and press “OK”

5. The Smart Favorites will now be displayed
with the clock icon

as shown below.

NOTE: Stations selected as “Smart Favorites” will have the ability to open the cache screen and
listen to previously stored broadcast content using the “Tune Start™” feature.
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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #23: The clock display on HVAC panel is incorrect even when “Auto Adjust by GPS”
is selected on the Clock settings menu.

The correct time is 4:59 pm but HVAC display shows 8:59 pm.

CAUSE:
When a map SD card is removed from the AVN unit or the map SD card cannot be read properly
by the AVN unit, the time displayed on the HVAC panel will automatically default to Greenwich
Mean Time (GMT). In this case, the GMT is 4 hours “ahead” of local time.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. If the user wants to operate the AVN unit without the map SD card installed and still have
the correct time shown on the HVAC panel, access the Clock settings menu, uncheck “Auto
Adjust GPS” then manually reset the correct time using “+” and “-” buttons to the left of the
clock display as shown below.

2. If the map SD card is installed in the AVN unit, but the maps and / or time is not being
displayed correctly, it may be due to a defective map SD card or possibly a faulty AVN unit.
REMINDER: SOA strongly discourages the printing and/or local storage of service information
as previously released information and electronic publications may be updated at any time.
Always refer to STIS for the latest service information before performing any repairs.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #24: Messages are displayed on the screen after pressing / holding the Talk switch on
the steering wheel to activate Siri (2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen 2.1 Navigation / Display
Audio system).
CAUSE:
1. The message shown in (Pic 1) will display when there is no phone paired with the unit.

Pic 1

2. The message shown in (Pic 2) will display when an “Android” Device is paired to the unit.

Pic 2

3. The message shown in (Pic 3) will display when a Siri-compatible phone is paired but “Siri”
has not been enabled on the phone.

Pic 3

4. The message shown in (Pic 4) will display when Siri is initiated during a call. Siri will not
operate while a call is in progress.

Pic 4

(Please see Owner’s Manual Page 252 for more details)
RECOMMENDATION:
Pair a Siri-compatible phone with the unit via
Bluetooth and enable the “Siri” function on the
phone.
How to enable the Siri function on an iPhone:
1. Go to “Settings”
2. Select “General”
3. Select “Siri”
4. Enable “Siri” (Pic 5)
Pic 5
Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #25: The “Tune Scan” feature is unavailable (2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen
2.1 Navigation / Display Audio system).
CAUSE:
1. Tune Scan is only available for use with SXM (Sirius XM) Channels.
2. There are no SXM presets stored as “Smart Favorites”.
3. Tune Scan relies on cached content (songs) from SXM channels which have been saved as
“Smart Favorites”. Once the start of at least one song from a SXM “Smart Favorite” channel
has been cached, the Tune Scan button will become available to press on the display. “Tune
Scan” will only scan through songs which have not been listened to for more than 30 seconds.
It will play the first 10 seconds of every song that has been cached.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Make sure the user has set some of the SXM preset channels as “Smart Favorites”. See
CONDITION #22 of this TSB for more information on setting up Smart Favorites
2. Wait for content to be cached to the unit (this may several minutes).
3. After the unit has been able to cache the start of a song from one channel, the “Tune Scan”
button will activate on the display.
NOTES:
•

Due to content limitations, some content will not be eligible for Tune Scan even though the
smart favorite channel has cached content (songs). If content is ineligible, the Tune Scan will
skip over that content.

•

Once the ignition is turned off, the cached content will be erased. Caching content will
resume once the SXM signal is received by the head unit.

Is the “Tune Scan” button available? (See Red Box below)
YES: Pressing the button will activate “Tune Scan”
NO: Check to see if the user has any SXM presets setup as “Smart Favorites”
(See Owner’s Manual pg. 75 for more about “Smart Favorites”)

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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Are SXM preset channels stored as “Smart Favorites”?
YES: Wait for several minutes after the unit has received SXM signal for the “Tune Scan” button
to become available.
NO: Store SXM preset channels as “Smart Favorites” then wait for several minutes after the unit
has received SXM signal for the “Tune Scan” button to become available.

NOTE:
If the “SCAN” is in place of the “Tune Scan” button, press the button to turn on the “Tune Scan”
option.
The “SCAN” button will change to “Tune Scan”
(See Owner’s Manual page 76 for more details about “Tune Scan”)

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #26: Bluetooth hands-free outgoing voice quality is poor. Call recipient cannot
understand the caller in the car clearly.
CAUSE:
The “Mic Volume” may be set too high (the default setting is “0”).
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Access “Mic Volume” function by touching the soft key during a hands-free call (Pic1).

2. Adjust the Mic Volume down / lower (Pic 2) then confirm the change’s effectiveness.
Repeat as necessary (adjust up / down) until the desired voice quality is achieved.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #27: Navigation voice guidance cannot be heard from the vehicle speakers when
the destination was requested by Siri (iPhone App) (2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen 2.1
Navigation / Display Audio system)
CAUSE:
Bluetooth Audio is not selected as an Audio Source.

Selected

Not Selected

RECOMMENDATION:
From the Select Audio Source screen, select Bluetooth Audio then confirm the navigation voice
guidance can be heard from the vehicle speakers normally.

Selected

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #28: When connecting an iPhone to the USB port to charge it, the Audio Source
automatically switches to iPhone.
CAUSE:
If the unit automatically “defaults” to iPhone mode, the “iPod/USB/SD AutoPlay” setting is
selected (activated / checked) on the Audio Settings screen.

RECOMMENDATION:
If the user does not want the unit to switch to an “iPhone” mode automatically when an iPhone
is connected to the USB, disable the “iPod/USB/SD Auto Play” setting by following the steps
below:
(1) Touch the “HOME” button
(2) Touch the “SETTINGS” button
(3) Touch the “AUDIO” button
(4) Touch the “iPod/USB/SD Auto Play” box to “toggle” the selection OFF or ON.
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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #29: The “MirrorLink” button in the APPS screen is not active (grayed out).
CAUSE:
A MirrorLink compatible phone which has MirrorLink-enabled applications installed is not
connected to the USB port.
RECOMMENDATION:
NOTE: Information regarding MirrorLink compatible telephones and MirrorLink-enabled
applications is available on the MirrorLink website at: www.mirrorlink.com .
(1) O
nce MirrorLink compatibility with the phone has been confirmed, install MirrorLinkenabled app.
(2) After installation is complete, connect the phone to the USB port.
(3) Wait until the MirrorLink button becomes active on the APPS screen.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #30: Video files stored on flash drives will not play through the USB
CAUSE:
The video files stored on the USB flash drive being used may not be in a format or resolution
supported by the head unit.
RECOMMENDATION:
The information below lists the supported video formats and resolutions.

Supported resolutions: 128 x 96, 160 x 120, 176 x 144, 320 x 240, 352 x 240, 352 x 288,
640 x 480, 720 x 480 or 720 x 576
REMINDER: The parking brake must be engaged in order to watch videos. If not, the unit will
display the blue screen as shown below but audio will be heard normally.

Blue Screen

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #31: The “Tag” button cannot be selected on the Sirius XM Screen
CAUSE:
The vehicle may be a Canadian specification (market) vehicle.
The iTunes “Tagging” feature was not available with the Sirius/XM (SXM) feature on Canadian
market vehicles. On U.S. market vehicles, if SXM does not have the tagging information for the
particular song, the Tag button will be grayed out on the display.
RECOMMENDATION:
Determine if the vehicle is Canadian or U.S. specification.

Canadian specification: NO Tag button

U.S specification: Tag button is outlined and either selectable
or grayed out (as shown).

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #32: Cannot scan or seek through all SXM channels using the Seek, Scan and / or
Steering Wheel buttons (2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen 2.1 Navigation / Display Audio
system)
CAUSE:
The unit will only scan or seek through the category being listened to when it is in the SXM mode.
EXAMPLE: If you are listening to CH2, which is under a “Pop” category, and press the scan
button, it will only scan channels (CH3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 158, 300, 301,
302 and 2) which are under the Pop category, not all channels or categories.

Scanning by
category “Pop”

NOTE: When scan or seek in AM/FM mode, it will scan or seek through all available radio
stations.
RECOMMENDATION:
Use the “AUDIO/TUNE” knob to scan through all the SXM channels available.

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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #33: When an iPhone is connected to the USB port to charge the phone, the Audio
Source automatically switches to Pandora or aha.
CAUSE:
If the unit automatically changes to the “Pandora” or “aha” mode, these apps on the phone may
be open in the background.
RECOMMENDATION:
If the user does not want the unit to switch to a “Pandora” or “aha” mode automatically when the
iPhone is connected to the USB, make sure these applications are closed before connecting the
iPhone to the USB port.
CONDITION #34: While searching for a place (in this example, a restaurant) after a destination has
been input, the user reports seeing straight and curved arrows in different colors pointing to the compass icon on the “Places Found” screen. What do these arrows mean?

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

RECOMMENDATION:
Explain the following to the customer:
The arrows as shown above appear when the user is searching for places along a previously set
route. The color and shape of the arrows indicate the level of detour (how far out of the way) the
place is from the current route.
• If the arrow is straight and GREEN (Fig. 1), the detour is minimal and basically on the current
route.
• If the arrow is slightly curved and YELLOW (Fig. 2), the detour will be moderate.
• If the arrow is curved and RED (Fig. 3), the detour will be significantly off the current route.
CONDITION #35: After using the Siri feature (2016 MY vehicles equipped with Gen 2.1 Navigation /
Display Audio system), the head unit will automatically change from whatever audio source the user was
listening to, over to the Bluetooth Audio Source. Why does that condition occur?
CAUSE:
It is caused by iOS software versions 9.2 and 9.21.
RECOMMENDATION:
Suggest the customer update their iPhone’s software to iOS
version 9.3.
NOTE: The user may need to delete their iPhone’s Bluetooth
connection then re-pair the phone after the software update is
complete to verify the condition has been addressed.
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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #36: Replacement procedure for lost or damaged Micro SD Card covers
CAUSE:
If the Micro SD card slot cover is lost or damaged, a replacement is available directly from F10

RECOMMENDATION:
Use the existing exchange unit (web order) form. Enter “SD card cover missing” and Retailer
Purchase Order number (PO#) in Section 3: Customer Complaint / Technician Findings box as
shown below. The charge for a replacement card slot cover is $30.00.

CONDITION #37: Grid pattern visible on the entire display area, all the time.

Grid
Pattern

CAUSE:
Defective Display unit.
RECOMMENDATION:
Order an exchange head unit following the normal procedure.
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Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #38: ASL (Automatic Sound Levelizer) function does not appear in Audio Settings as
indicated in the Owner’s Manual.
(Applicable to 2015-2017MY Legacy / Outback and 2016-2018MY WRX and Forester Models with
AVN Navigation or Display Audio system.)

ASL function not displayed in vehicle.

ASL function as described in Owner’s Manual.

CAUSE:
ASL function is supported by an internal amplifier audio system but not on audio systems which
use an external amplifier.
RECOMMENDATION:
Explain to a customer that the ASL function is available for internal amplifier audio systems
only. If the vehicle has an audio unit which utilizes a separate, external amplifier, the ASL
function is not available.
CONDITION #39: Unit freezes or locks up with no response to touch screen inputs.
(Applicable to 2015-2017MY Legacy / Outback, 2015-16MY Impreza / Crosstrek, 2016-17MY
Forester and 2016-17MY WRX with AVN Navigation or Display Audio system.)
CAUSE:
A power cord from an auxiliary device (e.g. GPS or cell phone cord) placed on the dash or
attached to the windshield may be coming in contact with the display screen and inadvertently be
causing a touch button to be continually “pressed”. When this condition occurs, the result is that
none of the other buttons will respond to any user touch inputs.

Continued...
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RECOMMENDATION:
Check for any external device(s) which may have been mounted to the windshield or placed on
top of the dash. Reposition the external device(s) so the power cable does not come in contact
with the screen of the audio system display.
CONDITION #40: Display background color uneven, a “smile” -type image appears.
(Applicable to 2015-16MY Impreza, 2015-17MY Crosstrek, 2016-18MY Forester and 2015-17MY
Legacy / Outback)

CAUSE:
This condition is NOT a defect. It is actually a background image of Subaru STARLINK which
becomes visible when the contract is set to the highest setting as shown in the screen shot below.

RECOMMENDATION:
Readjust the contrast to a lower setting.

Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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CONDITION #41: SXM operation freeze: not able to select SXM source or preset SXM channel.
(Applicable to 2015-16MY Impreza, 2016-2018 WRX/STI, 2015-17MY Crosstrek, 2016-18MY Forester
and 2015-17MY Legacy / Outback)
CAUSE:
Over time, SXM channel lineup is revised resulting in some channels to no longer be active. If an
inactive channel is stored in the head unit Mixed Preset, it could result in the SXM source being
unavailable. It is a good practice to obtain the list of all active SXM channels from the SXM
website, whenever addressing a SXM operation concern (https://www.siriusxm.com/channels).

RECOMMENDATION:
In order to prevent an issue with SXM service operation, remove any invalid presets for SXM
which are no longer available in the SXM Channel Lineup.
An example of how to restore SXM operation by replacing invalid presets with active channels
or AM/FM channels is shown below.

Bulletin Number: 15-177-14R; Revised: 06/25/21

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