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When I hit Voice Command button all was lost

Discussion in 'Prius v Audio and Electronics' started by Bluet, May 2, 2012.

  1. Bluet

    Bluet New Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2012
    2
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    Location:
    Washington
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    N/A
    I have a brand new Prius C. I was able to enter voice commands, get to navigation mode, get to audio screen and hear music, etc., my first drive. I set up blue tooth with my iPhone.

    However, my second (long) drive, I clicked the voice command mode (icon with the little lines next to the mouth) on the steering wheel. I wanted to command it "Call Husband". After I hit the voice command button on the steering wheel, nothing worked. All I got was a blank screen with the little voice command icon up in the upper right. No voice commands worked. E.g. "Show Map" "Call husband", etc., would do nothing, and the icon just sat there stupidly. Note: When I was in voice command mode the first drive, I was given a list of navigation voice commands... destination, show map, etc. I never got those this second drive. Just the icon sitting in the upper right corner not doing anything and not giving any choices. (Note: my first drive I got to the voice command mode OTHER than through the little icon on the steering wheel; I don't remember how now, but I don't think I pressed that button).

    I gave up and wanted to play the radio, and I got to the audio screen, but no sound would come out. I turned off and on the audio mode, and was actually able to program my radio stations. But there was no sound. Then my husband called me and I tapped "accept". But I couldn't hear him, and he couldn't hear me. The "accept" screen went away. When I did things such as hit "source" in the audio screen (the button that previously had let me choose FM or satellite or AM), instead of giving me a choice of source, all I got was the blank screen with the little voice command icon in the upper right corner.

    For the whole 1.5 hour drive I kept trying to figure out ways to get out of this mode. Then as I was walking away from the car, I tried to call my husband on my iPhone. The phone thought I had been connected to him for over an hour. I tried to hang up to re-dial him, but I couldn't. . . . it just said "ending call" for 15 minutes. I finally had to call Verizon (via a land line) to get the call disconnected. In other words, the Prius sort of connected the call, but didn't and then didn't disconnect the call even after my husband hung up. (I never hung up, as I wasn't given the option, as the call screen just disappeared).

    When I stopped the car, the radio played.

    Do I have a lemon? The car ran great, but I needed to get out of the nonfunctional voice command screen of death. The navigation screen sure SEEMS like a lemon that needs to be replaced, but since the car is brand new and the system is nonintuitive, I thought I'd better touch base to see if I did something wrong. The guys at the dealership knew zero about this system.
     
    #1 Bluet, May 2, 2012
  2. Wanderer

    Wanderer Hybrid neophyte

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2012
    366
    39
    0
    Location:
    Cold country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    This isn't the c forum but assuming the display radio is the same across both models it sounds like something is funky with the radio. Maybe a loose connection or bad unit. Someone in service should be ble to troubleshoot this for you or at least replace it. It almost sounds like the software crashed. W
     
    #2 Wanderer, May 2, 2012
  3. Bluet

    Bluet New Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2012
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Washington
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    N/A
    Oops, thanks. I think I ended up here because when I did a search if someone else had this problem, I ended up with you V guys instead of the C's. I'm glad to have some vindication that the system is simply bad. I forgot to mention that when I hit the telephone icons on the steering wheel, nothing happened. I hate to have to take my new car in to be serviced, as I had to wait 3 weeks for it to arrive. But I guess that's what I have to do.
     
    #3 Bluet, May 3, 2012
  4. Wanderer

    Wanderer Hybrid neophyte

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2012
    366
    39
    0
    Location:
    Cold country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Its ok I don't mind myself a bit but only the folks with a c can say if this is a common issue. Just remember with any car the first model year is where kinks get worked out. This could be the statistically acceptable one in ? funky radios or wiring harnesses that Toyota deems reasonable or may be a loose connection for whatever reason. Each car has its own quirkiness. W
     
    #4 Wanderer, May 3, 2012
  5. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2012
    407
    168
    0
    Location:
    Rhode Island
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Hi Bluet,

    Have been driving my C for a month and greatly enjoying the voice command system. The only time it had any difficulty recognizing my commands was when there was other conversation in the car (passengers).

    There are a few commands that it lacks, but other than that, it has worked flawlessly - until today. About 3/4 of the way to work on my 40 mile commute, I hit the button on the wheel to change to a song on my UBS thumb drive, and instead of getting the usual beeps that tell you its ready to accept a command, I got a very loud volume increase in the radio. So loud, I quickly reached over to shut it off.

    I waited a while, turned the audio back on, pressed the voice command button, same thing. Could not get it to reset back to normal for the rest of the drive. Unlike your situation, everything seemed to work fine as long as I didn't attempt to go into voice command mode. The Source screen came up when I hit the button, and all the other manual controls seemed to function OK. I am hoping it works when I leave at the end of the day, but I'm not optimistic. I think a service visit is in order.


    UPDATE: Everything back to normal upon starting the car after work.

    I have been watching the C from it's auto shows appearances last year (in a much more radical form), to it's debut in Japan in December as the Aqua. Read as many reviews of the Aqua I could find in English. Read reviews from west coast buyers who got their hands on it first, took several test drives from different dealers, alone and with salesmen in the car when it got here in March, and was convinced this was the next car for me.

    There were only two worries I had. 1. First year of a brand new model. 2. The inordinate amount of functions controlled by electronics (computers and software). Today, I may have experienced what, in Windows terms, might be called a BSOD with the voice command/audio system. Fortunately, a "reboot" fixed it. But I am not sure I will always be that lucky, and I am going to talk to the service manager about this to see if there have been similar incidents. I will also post the experience in the C forum here, so there will be reference to it in the right place for others.
     
    #5 rjdriver, May 7, 2012
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