Hello, first time user here! I wanted to install an aux input for my 2001 Toyota Prius similar to this thread: Radio Auxiliary Install? | PriusChat Unfortunately I was unaware of this forum before I attempted a DIY a few months ago with basically zero knowledge. I purchased this: which I thought I could just plug into the CD changer slot on the back of the stereo and it would be exactly what I wanted. First problem was this product has the smaller 6+6 pin that the newer Prius' have instead of the 5+7 which my gen I has. Next, although my Prius doesn't have a CD changer in it already something was plugged into the CD changer slot. When I remove it the clock doesn't work as others have mentioned. Rather than waiting to purchase a 6+6 to 5+7 converter and a Y-adapter, I looked up the pin-out for the stereo and spliced the wires and did a little soldering. Here are some before pics I took so I knew which wires to solder where: Now the clock and radio still works (which is great) but when I plug my iPhone or MP3 player into the adapter I can't switch to the CD changer because it says there isn't one connected. My phone will charge but just not communicate with the stereo so at the very least I have a $23 car iPhone charger. Is there a way for me to "trick" it into thinking there is a CD changer connected so I can get the audio from the aux adapter? I don't need the Nav screen controls to work for the phone as I will just be using an MP3 player but it would be a nice cherry if I could. In the meantime I've left everything connected and the adapter is hiding in the glove box. I've gone back to using the cassette adapter which has good audio quality but the clicking noise is annoying if I don't have the stereo on loud enough. I'd rather not purchase another stereo or adapter and I really like the idea of DIY projects. Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks for looking!
If you search this forum a little you should find the procedure to bring up the diagnostics screen on the multifunction display (MFD). It will try to query all the devices it can find on the AVC-LAN bus and list them all, with OK or an error indication. I have not used your particular adapter, but it should show up as something on the list, that wasn't there before you attached it. You can compare the same screen with your adapter wired in and without to see what shows up. (The adapter I'm using has some switches that can select whether it shows up as a CD changer, minidisc changer, or something else I think.) If it doesn't show up at all recheck your wiring. If it shows up with error, recheck your wiring. If other devices on the bus show up as error when your device is installed, recheck your wiring. If it shows up as OK, you can probably select it by using the appropriate button on the dash. For example, if it shows up as some flavor of disc player, then the DISC button on the dash ought to switch to it. What I learned back then about wiring details to watch out for is here. -Chap
My gosh incredible response time! I will search and try this later today when I get home from work. I am now excited and hopeful! Thanks so much
After checking the diagnostic screen it looks like it's not showing up so I will have to recheck my wiring. It will probably be a few days before I have the time to open the dash and redo the wiring but I will update when I do. When I push the disc button it says nothing is connected. Does that narrow down where I made my wiring error? One of the TX or ground wires?
I think you clicked your first photo too soon. You need to wait for the MFD to complete its scan of the bus, when there are OK or NG shown to the right of the devices listed there, and the buttons at the bottom are not grayed out. I think you said the car did not come with an actual CD changer, so the CDCH shown in the list there is probably your device. -Chap
Re-checked my wiring but couldn't find anything. A few Notes: - When I push the disc button it says, "The external system is not connected" as shown in a previous picture. - The LED indicator on the product does not light up. iirc When I first installed it, the LED lit up but still had the current no connection messages. Now it doesn't light up at all - I can still use it to charge my phone, so there is power going through the unit. Ideas? After re-reading a bunch of the reviews of the product a number of people have said it stopped working after a week or two or their unit just came completely DOA. I can't really buy another one to test if mine is DOA because I spliced the wires already and would have to do that again to test the new unit which would make it un-returnable. I may try a dice product but they're so expensive. I might also just buy another stereo with an aux input built in. For now I think I'll just go back to the clicking cassette adapter. The whole project wasn't a complete waste though. I spent $20 for some experience and I can now take apart/reassemble the dash pretty quickly now.
In your photo, I see that CDCH is listed, but shown as NCON. If you then entirely remove the gadget, is there any CDCH row shown at all? Curious that the MFD seems to think there's a CD changer around but also say it's not connected. -Chap
Since I splced the wires and soldered them without using a y-adapter I would have to unsolder everything to check this. I too am curious so I may try it but won't have time to today. One thing I noticed is in my previous picture showing the 6+6 to 5+7 conversion, on the 5+7 plug there is a TXT wire which is not existent on the 6+6 and there is a wire on the 6+6 that is not labeled as anything at all. What is the TXT wire and could that be what I'm missing? The gadget doesn't use the unlabeled spot anyways (as show by the red x on it).
I'm not getting very far deciphering what you've drawn in that Paint screenshot. The reference that finally helped me out installing my Dice box was this: and sure enough, pin 11 was key to my problem ... the Dice harness had crossed it with one side of the AVC-LAN, which meant two things: the AVC-LAN communications were all disrupted, and any tape I inserted would immediately eject. But I don't think that's causing your problem, if (as I think you're saying) you left it unconnected. You'll probably notice the first time you want to eject a tape, though. -Chap
What I drew was the colored wires of the device (6+6 pin) so I would know which wires to solder together (since I didn't buy a y-adapter). You're reference is the same as the one I have on the right of the paint screenshot except pin 11 is marked as eject instead of "TXT" and signal ground on mine matches ground on yours (same thing I guess). I drew x's on pins 1,2,3,6, and 7 because they weren't currently being used by the Prius, which looks the same as your reference which has them colored red. I just need a way to trick the Prius into thing there is a CD changer connected, like a switch or something. It turns out that is more complex than I was hoping, which is the whole point of these devices I guess and why the dice products are $100+.
Well, they weren't currently being used, but I hope you did connect 1, 2, 6, and 7 to the right and left audio outputs of your gadget anyway, or even if it had successfully shown up as a CD changer you wouldn't hear much. That's done by messages over the AVC-LAN (pins 9 and 10). The master sends out "hey, who's out there" and your gadget says "me, me, I'm a CD changer", and shows up in the device check list. We saw that it did get as far as showing up in the list, so that's something ... but with a status of NCON, which seems odd. Unless it showed up correctly once and then disappeared, and the MFD remembered and wondered where it went. -Chap
