iPod MFD Integration Unit Group Buy

So, has mass-production of the units been green-lighted so we can order soon?...

 

I'm still torn between this and the VAIS SLI. The main thing putting me off the DICE is the fact that (as already noted) they haven't gotten the RAND & RPT buttons working, and REW/PREV don't behave normally. And if they don't have them working initially, there's no firmware upgrade route. Can they please try to get them working before the group buy?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 15 2006, 10:04 AM) [snapback]271696[/snapback]</div>

I've been waiting for this "group buy" thing for couple months now.....!
Thought this was "NEVER" going through.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Jun 13 2006, 02:17 PM) [snapback]270734[/snapback]</div>

Lurkazusa helped me confirm that my French pop doesn't work so well either. The DICE seems to go a bit crazy when it reads non-ascii (including chars such as ê), and I think it either starts displaying information from some other random track, or a random buffer. Possible buffer exploit potential here.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Jun 13 2006, 02:17 PM) [snapback]270734[/snapback]</div>

So how would you update the DICE then?

Maybe someday people will write code that supports the current widespread use of unicode/utf-8.

 

Not random. It is from the track previously played. It doesn't refresh.

 

Unfortunately, the unit exhibited the behavior of the ice-link. It required pulling the power plug from the DICE box to get the car to recognize the unit.

History of actions:

1. 7:30am started car while connecting the iPod. Instead of INIT it showed *, played a playlist with Nu-Shrike's French and Japanese songs, then changed to a different playlist and played a couple more songs. Turned off car at 8:00 and removed the iPod.
2. 12:00 Used ACC, Turned off Radio Pwr before Pruis screen finished loading. Also used IG-ACC while using console power plug to run portable TV (normal for lunchtime). Adjusted climate settings for air. This isn't unusual behavior for noontime. Turned off car 12:55pm.
3. 5:00pm Connected iPod, Turned on car and pushed Radio Pwr on. FM started playing. Tried to change mode to CD2, but it wasn't available.

So to identify odd things:

Power connected after start.
Songs with non-ASCII titles.
2 songs with imbedded album art.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 15 2006, 10:04 AM) [snapback]271696[/snapback]</div>

You can't connect it to your computer - easily. If you know how to program chips and have the correct gear you could as he put it, but there's not going to be a cable kit from DICE.

But the idea is not to release for a bit longer, around another month til they get all the bugs out and get full function out of it. This includes the Random button, amung other stuff. They're making it the perfect product before it ships.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bshef @ Jun 15 2006, 10:43 AM) [snapback]271710[/snapback]</div>

It's happening, don't you worry.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike @ Jun 15 2006, 01:23 PM) [snapback]271818[/snapback]</div>

I'm not sure if that's a limitation of the Prius or the DICE. I'm leaning Prius.

You don't update the DICE at all - They're trying to make it bug free on the first release. Thus the beta testing, beta testing, beta testing.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ Jun 15 2006, 06:06 PM) [snapback]271921[/snapback]</div>

I've had the no connection issue once. The solution was to just unplug and replug the iPod.

 

I've been able in the past to restart by unplugging, replugging when the system is connected, but not quite behaving (only happened once or twice). This is different. There is no connection established between the DICE and the MFD. Unplugging and replugging the Ipod does nothing. Turning off the car and back on doesn't work either.

Could you please confirm you don't have non-ASCII files, just to rule this out. As I sent you earlier, with a title of [ www.djcontest.com ] in the title, the unit became unresponsive, but was able to be reconnected by pushing the non-highlighted MFD buttons. This time was different.

I could forward you the files, if you want to try them and see if it happens to you. After resetting and testing, I couldn't reproduce, but maybe it is cumulative?

I would image the Prius can handle it, as it is made in Japan. Probably a language setting or on the DICE side not using Unifont or CD-TEXT itself doesn't allow unifont.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Jun 15 2006, 06:26 PM) [snapback]271931[/snapback]</div>

Well, I'm sure us beta-testers get our firmware updated once it's all said and done.

Also, I just found a nifty place to install the unit. In between the upper and lower glove boxes, there is a little gap. I put a couple of strips of weatherstripping on the top and bottom of the DICE and slid it snugly into this gap. It's now out of sight and out of the way (I did have it sitting in the glove box for demo purposes), yet it's easy to get to in case I need to access it (like when it's time to update the firmware).


DGStan

 

I'm pretty certain the Prius display (in its US/European form) won't support Japanese, but I'd suspect it to at least handle some accented characters. In the US, its own screens handle English and French, and in Europe it handles eight languages. So I would expect its fonts to have a fair subset of the accented characters in Latin-1, and hopefully they should be accessible via the A/V device connection interface. The DICE folks should do a bit of investigation to try and probe its responses to top-bit-set character codes.

Being Japanese, I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was still using some sort of Japanese-style 16-bit encoding (rather than Latin-1 or UTF-16), even in the European market. I've done quite a bit of work on character encodings, so I could advise them on mapping tables/codes to translate, and how to determine what it's doing. Feel free to PM me. I could probably do this in conjunction with a current user (LurkAzusa?), if the DICE folks can tell me what their current mapping from iPod data->A/V byte stream is. I assume they're just passing the text bytes through.

Once we understand its responses, we can arrange for the DICE unit to filter out or simplify anything that will cause display garbage.

To some extent, we may be reliant on the iPod, and how it maps from ID3 data to what comes out of its docking port. But if it can display the non-English track names correctly itself, then we should get something sensible out of its port.

 

KMO,
I hope they take you up on your offer to help. I'm willing to do any testing you may need. It would open up a much bigger market for their product if they could handle multi-languages.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 16 2006, 02:35 PM) [snapback]272357[/snapback]</div>

Are they shipping for the 2004-2005s now?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 16 2006, 03:35 PM) [snapback]272357[/snapback]</div>

When and how are you shipping? I need to know if I'll have it in time for my road trip next week? Can you overnight it?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jun 16 2006, 04:27 PM) [snapback]272384[/snapback]</div>

If I can have the unit in hand on Tuesday, June 20th I'll order now. If not, I'll wait until I'm back in town.

 

I will be away for two months will the group buy price be available still or do I have to order now and have you hold shipping it until I get back home? Also, the cradle, will it hold the iPod Nano or only the bigger one?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sawyer @ Jun 16 2006, 01:36 PM) [snapback]272387[/snapback]</div>

The company is in Long Beach. Assuming ground shipment, it would take about 5 days for it to get to you.

P.S. I ordered mine a short while ago.

 

2004 Ordered!