Rear view camera shows no image or does not switch on in reverse

How to recognise the problem

The fault shows up in several ways. Typical reports include:

• Reverse is engaged but the screen keeps showing the previous screen or only the optical parking display (OPS).
• The camera screen opens but the picture is black, green or the logo/emblem camera opens without an image.
• The image appears for a few seconds after boot or after engine start, then goes black.
• The camera only works the second time reverse is selected, or only after rebooting the unit.
• Camera menu options or view modes (top-down view, guidelines, RV modes) are missing.
• Errors such as 'Park pilot not available', 'Function not available', a no-CAN message, or 5F U1014 (module incorrectly coded) after coding changes.
• Most often seen after replacing the head unit, moving from MIB1 to MIB2/MIB2.5, putting a used unit into another car, changes in the service (green) menu, or fitting a factory or aftermarket camera.

Most likely cause: coding does not match the camera type

VW Group cars use two broad camera types, and the head unit must be configured for the one actually fitted. Coding for the wrong type, or enabling both, is the single most reported cause.

Low camera (RVC low, low-line): a camera with no CAN connection that sends video directly to the head unit. It is enabled in 5F long coding, byte 19 bit 4 (rear view camera low).

High camera (RVC high, high-line): a camera with its own control module, visible as address 6C. It is enabled through 5F adaptation, not byte 19. Owners report setting Car_Function_List_BAP_Gen2 VPS_0x0B to activated and VPS_0x0B_msg_bus to the bus appropriate for the car (Comfort data bus, infotainment CAN or terminal 15 are all reported, depending on brand and model). For a high camera, byte 19 bit 4 should be disabled.

A quick way to tell the type is to check whether a 6C module responds in a scan and whether the camera has CAN wires. Several owners found a low camera coded as high, or the reverse, after a unit swap; correcting the type alone fixed it.

• Low camera: 5F byte 19 bit 4 on, VPS adaptation off.
• High camera: 5F byte 19 bit 4 off, VPS_0x0B activated with the correct message bus, 6C in the gateway installation list, 6C coded for the car.
• After an update or unit change on PQ cars running 0478 software, owners found the high camera option apparently gone; enabling VPS in 5F brought it back.

Before changing anything

Coding, adaptation and dataset changes can leave the unit or camera in a worse state if interrupted or entered incorrectly.

• Note the head unit's current software train and part number, and the camera module part number if a 6C module is present.
• Save a full backup of the existing long coding and adaptations of 5F, 19, 10/76, 6C and 09 before editing anything.
• Keep a stable power supply (battery charger or support unit) connected while coding or writing datasets.
• Where possible, write the full long coding string in one operation rather than changing individual bytes; several owners got 'Function not available' (ODIS reports SID $2E NRC $31) until the complete string was written.

Fix: ordered steps

Work through these steps in order and recheck the camera after each one. Restart the unit after every coding or adaptation change; owners report that changes often do not take effect until 5F is rebooted (hold the power button about 10 seconds, or lock the car and wait about a minute).

1. Identify the camera type (low or high) as described above.
2. For a low camera: in 5F long coding set byte 19 bit 4 to on, and make sure VPS_0x0B is not activated. Owners also set parking aid (address 10 or 76) long coding byte 02 bit 4. One confirmed Golf 7 fix combined these two codings, a short drive of about 10 metres and a unit reboot.
3. For a high camera: disable 5F byte 19 bit 4, activate VPS_0x0B and set the message bus, add the rear view camera (6C) to the gateway (19) installation list, and long code 6C to match the car and equipment (for example towbar and parking system).
4. Check the parking system coding. Several fixes involved parking modules: PDC not active in coding prevented the camera image on an MHI2 unit; on an A4 B9 with rear sensors only, the APS variant had to match the sensor configuration; and on cars without parking sensors, owners had to enable or remove the camera entry in 10/76 accordingly.
5. Check the video input setting on Audi MLB units. On A4/A5 B9 the RVC video input adaptation in 5F must match the camera. One confirmed case needed FBAS instead of LVDS; another, after an Area View retrofit, needed LVDS instead of FBAS. Try the other setting if the wiring tests fine but no picture arrives.
6. Check the camera (6C) dataset and parameters. A camera with no valid parameters may refuse long coding and read all zeros. On an A3 8V a camera loaded with MLB parameters (4M0980556A) showed 'Redir Fail' and U1121 missing-message faults until the MQB dataset 5Q0980556B was written via Data transfer / Write data set. Mismatched datasets (wrong brand, or from a right-hand-drive car) also caused wrong view layouts and a green screen.
7. Check wiring and power. For a low camera, the RVC video signal is reported on the blue connector, pins 6 and 12; a high camera also needs its CAN wires connected to the correct bus. Confirm permanent 12 V and the reverse light feed are present, and check the shield wire and fuse if the image dies after engine start.
8. If the image works in reverse but cuts out immediately when leaving reverse, this is normal behaviour for a low camera fed from the reverse light. Owners used a delay relay or reverse timer module; a high camera keeps the image on. Feeding a low camera from terminal 15 alone did not solve it in one report.
9. If nothing changes, re-scan and clear faults, then compare the head unit coding against the vehicle's original configuration, especially after a used unit has come from another car.

Platform-specific notes

Some platforms and situations need a different approach from the general steps.

• MIB3 (Golf 8, A3 8Y and similar): setting 5F byte 19 bit 4 is reported to trigger 5F U1014. Instead the camera is enabled in vehicle configuration adaptation (rear_view_camera_low for a low camera). For the Golf 8, owners list gateway 19 byte 20 set to 02 (RVC compact smart), VPS_0x0B active, RVC_video_input set to Ethernet and parkingsystem_video_input carrier_resolution set to 1392x656; coding variants found online differ, so treat these as a starting point.
• MIB1 to MIB2/MIB2.5 upgrades: a camera coding byte left at the MIB1 value can stop the camera communicating with the new 5F. One suggestion was setting camera byte 7 to the MIB2 value (08 for high, 06 for standard) or updating the camera; this is unconfirmed.
• Newer cars with SFD2 protection (reported on a 2023 Q5): coding writes can stall. Whether SFD2 applies depends on the vehicle (VIN and PR codes), not the software version.
• Some head units only support a camera when one of the PR numbers 7UF, 8AR, QH1, 9WT or QV3 is present; check this before attempting a camera upgrade.
• Full-screen camera view is reported as an MIB1 feature that MIB2 high camera installations do not reproduce.
• After a park assist button stops working when VPS is activated, one confirmed workaround was disabling the VPS adaptation again for that setup.

What did not help

Several approaches were tried without success or with mixed results.

• Firmware downgrades or updates: reports from an Audi S3 and an MHI2 unit concluded the camera fault was coding or dataset related and not fixed by changing software.
• Setting byte 19 bit 4 after a 5F swap on a Delphi unit worked for one owner and not for another.
• Coding a low camera setup in a car whose donor unit came from a high-camera/360 car did not remove the camera view in one MHS2 case.
• Trying to enable RVC adaptation through development mode channels failed in one report.
• Replacing the camera itself: in one MHS2 Q3 case three cameras were tested and the fault remained, pointing to configuration rather than hardware.