Hey Brad,
I just came back in the house from resetting our NAVI on our '06 RL. Two things you need to know:
1) The 4.73 version won't load directly to a vehicle that has "too old" of a previous version (e.g. prior to 4.5 or so). In my case, I have never updated, so still have the OEM 4.13. When you buy from the 'authorized source', they send you a 'supplemental' setup disc if you are in this situation (older version). If you have previously updated (say you now have 4.6x), then you don't need (& they won't send) the supplemental disc. I guess they must ask you when you order it.
2) If you have tried to load either a) a copy of 4.73 from somewhere or b) a legitimate disc of 4.73 without first using the supplemental set-up disc; you can 'force' the system back to your previously installed version, presuming you still have the old disc. This is what you do:
A. First make sure your desired previous disk is in the DVD player.
B. Gain access to the hidden Navi set-up menu by simultaneously holding down the Menu, Map/Guide, & Cancel keys for about 5 seconds or so. You will then see the NAVI diagnostics menu. While here you can do a hardware self diagnostic if you want. But what you are really interested in is seeing & changing the version of SW. On the menu screen, hit "Unit Check", on next menu hit "Navi ECU", and next hit "Memory Clear". I'm guessing you already lost your memory (address book, etc.) when you did the previous download. If not, you'll see an option somewhere along the way to "save user memory". If you do great - if not, Oh well, you already cleared it out & it won't ask you to save what's not there.
C. After you've hit "Memory Clear", you will have dumped the new, undesired SW. Then I believe you'll have to reaccess the hidden menu again (I really don't remember if it just came up by itself, but I think I had to start over again with the 3 key thing). THIS TIME, on the first menu hit "Version", and you will see a "Download" softkey. Hit download & wait for a few minutes while the unit reloads the disc you have in the drive. You'll be all set, with the possible exception of having lost previously saved info (address book, personal info, etc.).
If you've lost memory, you'll know because when your unit starts up & you hit 'menu', the "previous destinations" and "today's destinations" will be grayed out (you don't have either of those yet because your memory was wiped). Happy trails, and if you want to read more about similar adventures, see this link from similarly frustrated Acura owners. It's lenthy, but educational (the RL they refer to is an Acura, not our Ridgeline):
http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700797
Oh Yeah, Also be advised that consensus opinion is that 4.73 version CANNOT be copied by the usual techno-wienie so that it will work. Alpine has added some kind of copy stopper. It will copy, will look like it's successfully duplicated, and will even download . . . but will not work. SO, (at least so far) we need to have a legit white disc 4.73 from Alpine, or a recycled one of the same, as you have from eBay or wherever. AND we need to know whether the 'supplemental set-up' disc is required, based on our current SW version. Hope this helps,
Dnick
