iPod MFD Integration Unit Group Buy

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ May 29 2006, 04:42 PM) [snapback]262436[/snapback]</div>

Thank you!

By the way, I just wanted to emulate my son's wiring solution with my iPod in my car. Now that you guys have reported success, I can put my name on the order list.

 

I'm not adding any input on what I don't like but just my experience which has all been really positive. I called DICE on Wednesday to ask about the Prius IceLink and was invited to join the beta program (after establishing that I'd be willing to do this, etc.). I followed these instructions on dismantling my dash which was much more straightforward than I expected. My unit arrived via FedEx on Friday and I had it installed and started testing it before closing up the dash. I wound up fastening my IceLink underneath the hump at the base of the seats between the driver and passenger seats since there is reasonable clearance in that space to accomodate the unit. I fastened it using 3M Command Picture Hanging velcro strips which seems great. I put the DIP switches in DICE mode and ran an AUX cable and the iPod cable out from the hump before reassembling my dash.

This weekend I drove 4 hours from Seattle to the Oregon coast and back and used the IceLink for the whole trip and everything worked great, however I have Rockbox on my iPod (mini, 2nd generation) and all my music is OGG. This means I miss most of the iPod integration. I plan on copying some mp3's to it and using the foobar2000 plugin which (I understand) can create an iPod database out of an ad hoc filesystem organization of stuff I've put on the iPod myself (normally, the rockbox firmware can't read the iPod firmware and vice versa, but the foobar2000 plugin is supposed to create an iPod firmware db letting it know where all the rockbox files are).

Like one of the earlier posters, I have sent my other feedback (mostly little notes about ease of install or typos in the manual) directly to Jessie at DICE. I'll try to review more about what you advised for the beta program and figure out where other correspondence should go. I'll probably also post a few more comments specifically about the rockbox ipod port in the rockbox forums.

For anyone wondering - with rockbox installed it functions mostly like an AUX-IN device. No text integration, no iPod control from the Prius controls (not even in DICE mode), no recharging via the cable. All of these are known issues with the rockbox iPod port and not a reflection of problems with IceLink. If I use rockbox's dual-boot feature to go back to the iPod firmware, I can charge from IceLink, but I need to get some mp3's on it to try the other features.

 

Welcome, psoul!

I'll continue to follow your experience with Rockbox over at that forum. We just need a build that default boots to the iPod firmware, instead of the Rockbox firmware and then we would have the best of both worlds. There was a person over there that did give the code to change in the bootloader, but I'm not brave enough to change and compile it myself.

 

Hi everyone,
I'm a complete newbie both to the Prius and to this site. Just bought a 'used' '05 white w/nav with 19k miles. I am very thankful for the wealth of info here, so far I've spent many, many hours learning from many of your previous posts.

Quick question for the beta testers of the dice unit. Has anyone tested the video out capability on the ipod cradle from dice? Any chance it could be used to interact with Coastal's ViewTech? Maybe that's not the best way?

What I want to do is use my ipod instead of a dvd player to play movies for my kids on screens in the headrests, with the option of viewing the movie on the MFD. (when I'm parked of course) The thing I can't fiqure out is, how will the audio for the movie from the ipod work? Does it have to go through the stereo system all the time or could I select a different source like the cd changer and still have the ipod sending video to the back with audio through headphones. I guess I want to integrate it sometimes and use it stand alone sometimes too... Does any of this make sense?

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have.

 

I don't have the Video Ipod Cradle from DICE, but I tried something for you. I hooked up the ipod to the DICE and plugged the video out plug from the iPod to a DVD Player. You can listen to the audio thru the speakers, while using the iPod controls to output the video to the DVD Player.

If you want them to listen to headphones, use both the audio and video cords from the iPod to the DVD player. Then you can listen to whatever you want to on Radio or CD. You won't be charging your iPod that way, though.

I don't have anyway to input video to the MFD, so can't help you there. I don't think the DICE cradle is meant to interface video with the MFD. They show pictures with the video cord running from the cradle to the DVD player.

 

Any 2006 users in the beta yet? I'd love to hear how it's going with them. If there isn't a 2006 owner in the beta, I'll volunteer so long as DICE will promise me that it will be made to work (if there is a compatibility problem) or will refund the price of the unit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbeebe1 @ May 30 2006, 01:29 PM) [snapback]262948[/snapback]</div>

Welcome to the group!

IFAIK, Coastal's ViewTech hasn't shipped yet, so that question can't be answered yet.

 

OK Beta Guys,

I had a minor issue this morning and don't know if it's really a problem or if I'm just unclear on how this bad boy works...

I've got a playlist called "podcasts". In it, I have two different podcasts. I was playing them via the playlist. This morning, I finished listening to both of them. As far as the Ipod is concerned, the playlist is over, so it stops.

At this point, I change to "album" mode (disc 3), and push the track up button. However, the Ipod/DICE didn't switch to "album" mode - it simply started playing one of the podcasts over again.

The way I look at it is: I took the Ipod out of "playlist" mode and put it into "album" mode. Shouldn't I now be browsing/playing albums? Am I confused on the level of control DICE allows over the Ipod?


DGStan

 

I found the album mode to be tied to the Playlist, so what you did was go up one album in the Podcast playlist. The inconsistency that I reported is that it continues to change the album T count even though there may only be 3 albums in the playlist, you can Next to 4,5, etc. Then when you return to Playlists, Next will go to that album count number Playlist, instead of the one next in line to the current playlist. I'm sure that was as clear as mud!

Have you tried the Shuffle (RND) and Repeat (RPT)? I had thought everything was fine, but now I'm not sure. If I turn on the Shuffle Settings on the ipod it shuffles songs within the Playlist on the DICE. I don't think the RND button has any effect, though. If I turn the Shuffle and Repeat Settings on the ipod to off, and then press the RND key to activate shuffle or RPT for repeat, it doesn't do those actions. Edit: Ignore this. The instruction sheet doesn't mention Shuffle or Repeat, so it is not offered at this time. It does work if you turn on those features from the iPod, though.

 

Alll this is making me salivate. How much will this happiness cost? What's the order status? Seems to me I signed up just with my name, but how do I convert that to an actual order with billing and shipping etc?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ May 31 2006, 06:37 PM) [snapback]263678[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I came to the conclusion that the "Random" button doesn't do anything. I wish it controlled the "Shuffle" mode. Maybe it can in future versions.

Hopefully, we'll get detailed documentation on how everything works someday. Having worked for a software company, I realize documentation is the last thing done.

 

I just found this thread and read the whole thing. I have a few questions before I'd sign up.

About the cost: Is the 50+ group buy price of $135 with shipping included is the lowest it is going to go? At the moment over 120 people have signed up according to the system here. Will the price go any lower?

About the "I Agree" button: What are you people talking about? Is it like the nav system and you have to agree to some safety stuff before you can use the iPod?

About the video iPod adapter: Does anyone have any information on this? I am interested in when they are planning to develop/release it and what the planned cost will be. Also, will group buys be an option for that?

I have a video iPod and I'd love to be able to watch videos on the MFD (obviously, with the car in park) but there's only so much more I'd be willing to pay for that ability.

Thanks to beta testers and to Vagabond for sacrificing his Prius so we can all have better toys!

 

The "I Agree" has to do with navigation and has nothing to do with iPod/DICE use. Personally, I would prefer it automatically turn Titles On every time. I usually have the screen on the Info display, so I don't see the I Agree often.

The DICE link explaining the Video iPod dock shows that it can be connected to any external video source, but you would still need some way to access the video input on the MFD. I don't believe that is part of the docking cradle.
http://www.densionusa.com/dice_cradle_info.htm

 

Thanks for your response! I know that I agree screen well, I just didn't know if there was another for the DICE unit. Thanks for clearing that up. Also thanks for the info on the video unit. It looks to me like it wouldn't be worth it to me. So is the price for the DICE still $135?

 

Beta testers -

Would you say the DICE unit is louder, softer, or the same as if you were playing the CD? I find it's too quiet. Is there a way to adjust the gain on the unit? Obviously, the Ipod volume wheel has no effect.

I can always bump the volume up in Itunes, but I'm not sure that's ideal. I'll go back and reread the DICE documentation, but I don't recall anything about adjusting the output volume (except for the AUX port).

I also reported a small bug to Jessie regarding song titles that have an apostrophe (') in them. It seems to confuse the DICE. Don't know if anyone else has seen this.


Thanks,

DGStan

 

Do you have Sound Check turned on in the iPod? I have my JBL volume on about 32-34 with the DICE. This is comparable to the radio volume I listen to. Maybe 2-4 higher. Most of my CD's that I listen to are live recorded concerts, so the gain is too low to make a good comparison, since I have to have the volume about 50 to hear them well. I'll try a stock commercial CD tonight and let you know.

The new iPod firmware has Volume Limiter. Maybe you need to increase or decrease the setting. Have you gone to the AUX settings on the DICE and increased igain there? I don't know if it will apply to the whole unit or only the AUX.

One of the issues I reported was extraneous characters at the end of the track title on long file names. I get | _U or | bU or |. This doesn't happen all the time, though. I have found it without the ('), but with [] or (), but it also happens with Grown Up Christmas List, which has no odd characters. The track listing isn't as long as the artist*album listing. It's about 25 characters with the extraneous characters.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ Jun 2 2006, 02:14 PM) [snapback]264845[/snapback]</div>

The volume limiter on the iPod made all the difference on mine - made a tweak and it was good.

The adjustments you make on the gain/bass/treble etc I remember being told that it is for the aux only.

 

Hello all!

I am new to the group, didnt know that there was a "group buy" so I ordered my Dice unit about a month ago. received it yesterday. I installed it today but it isnt working! So here is my question:
Do you think the kit I received is an old one? I have a 6disk JBL unit (there is a plugin on the back for the unit, I plugged it in but nothing...) The model says "I-TOYOTA-R and in little numbers on the box, DL-2107. Basically, I just dont get the CD Changer 2 screen. I can listen to CD's AM or FM Radio but with the unit plugged in and the ipod on, literally, no dice I have done all the things the instructions said to do, ie. I pulled the fuse from under the hood marked DOME, fuse number 39. Left it out for several minutes, have done this several times now. I have checked the firmware version 1.1.1, just like it asks for, I have reset the ipod, reset the DICE unit, unhooked the battery from the terminals (PAIN IN THE A#$!@, dropped the screw way down in the car behind the 12v battery and had to remove a screw from my brake system next to the battery just to get it back hooked up!) the box also says Vehicle compatibility PRIUS 2004-2006 with a "2" astrisk. which says "Compatiblity limitations may apply to navigation and 6-CD in-dash systems. So I am definitely thinking I got an older unit. I specifically stated in my order that I didnt want the unit if it wouldnt work COMPLETELY with a 2005 Prius with 6CD JBL... So, do you guys think the unit is the older one (It does say "DICE ELECTRONICS" on it...) I hope they will take it back and send me the right one if so!

Is there something I am missing here? a secret button I need to push to get it to work?

Any help would be much appreciated. I will post pictures of my unit here in a bit...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mmmmmmmike @ Jun 3 2006, 12:22 AM) [snapback]265054[/snapback]</div>

Something's not right. My new DICE unit has the numbers "DL 1007" in small lettering and "BETA C: 2:14" in large letters. Does your unit look like the picture posted eariler in the thread?

Call Dension. They seem like reasonable people. I'm sure they'll make it right.