So I got the radio removed without drama and verified a few things:
1 - perfectly good electrical connection from the green/purple drag wire back to the CAN gateway under the rear seat
2 - with the optical connector unplugged (and ignition ON) I do see light signal (from gateway)
3 - no VCDS connectivity with radio (5F) while optical connector was unplugged (unless some general comms stop when LOS is detected)
4 - also had a look at all the red engineering menus on the unit - did not alter anything and it doesn't look like you can anyway - nothing immediately useful there for mere mortal DIY folk - I will post some pics for posterity though as this RMC animal seems to be not very well documented in the Audi owner forums (not that I can find anyway)
Next up will be removing the cluster (and half the dashboard trim along the way to get the stupid thing out by the looks of it). Need to verify that pesky green/purple diagrams wire has a good connection with the gateway.
1 - perfectly good electrical connection from the green/purple drag wire back to the CAN gateway under the rear seat
2 - with the optical connector unplugged (and ignition ON) I do see light signal (from gateway)
3 - no VCDS connectivity with radio (5F) while optical connector was unplugged (unless some general comms stop when LOS is detected)
4 - also had a look at all the red engineering menus on the unit - did not alter anything and it doesn't look like you can anyway - nothing immediately useful there for mere mortal DIY folk - I will post some pics for posterity though as this RMC animal seems to be not very well documented in the Audi owner forums (not that I can find anyway)
Next up will be removing the cluster (and half the dashboard trim along the way to get the stupid thing out by the looks of it). Need to verify that pesky green/purple diagrams wire has a good connection with the gateway.