Long story short, it came to me this way.

Have an A4 at my shop with corrupt cluster.   It still works,  but the VIN digits are all messed up.  

I was able to retrieve the SKC from it using Vag Commander.


I have another cluster here that I can swap in,  but need to set it to Mode 4 first.

Without spending $$$ on more software,  is there a way to manually modify the cluster dump so that it is virgin?  

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the offer.   I will upload the dump tonight.

I tried adapting the new (used) cluster to the car and it won't work.   It says safe on the odometer, and as soon as I login with the SKC that I pulled from it I get disconnected from the cluster and can't adapt it via VCDS.

My understanding is that the replacement cluster must be new or reset to virgin mode after doing some research.   I don't know if that's true or not.

If the replacement cluster can't easily be reset to virgin mode after altering the dump,  can the SKC be changed in the dump file to match the ECU?

That way, I could theoretically just plug and play.

If the original cluster wasn't corrupt,  I could just upload the original dump file to the new cluster,  but that's not possible.

Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the info.  I am not familiar with that program.

Is there a link to where I can aquire it, and some info on what to do?

I've done a fair amount of work using Vag Tacho, Vag Commander and VCDS along with a HexEditor but I wouldn't even know where to start "virginizing" s cluster.

Thank you!

I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

Yes, this I know.

He nearly bricked this one just by trying to read the SKC.

I have another good cluster and I'm having a really hard time adapting it to his car.

I used Vag Commander, not sure what he tried.  The only thing messed up that I know of are some unusual characters where the VIN should be.

It was already messed up when it came to me but still works other than the LCD going bad.   That's why he wanted to change it in the first place.

Just make an encrypted backup first, then it's recoverable. I had an RB4 DEF last week after flashing an RB8 file. Re-wrote the encrypted backup and no issues.

Get a new cluster.

lol