iPod MFD Integration Unit Group Buy

You shipped Saturday? That was fast! Mailman just dropped off the package here in Los Angeles.

Off to get some tools to install this thing. Thanks! Will post on my progress later on today.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ Jul 10 2006, 06:51 AM) [snapback]283779[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rightonbro @ Jul 10 2006, 12:47 PM) [snapback]284007[/snapback]</div>

What tools? A screwdriver is about all you need.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Jul 10 2006, 12:50 PM) [snapback]284010[/snapback]</div>

Don't have one.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rightonbro @ Jul 10 2006, 12:59 PM) [snapback]284022[/snapback]</div>

In that case you'll need both types of screwdrivers. One is to pop the A/C vent cover off and the phillips is to remove the white block of wire (or rather, to move it to one side).

 

Okay, I'm done, and it works on my 2005 with the nav system and 6-CD changer. Most of my time was spent going to the hardware store to get a long screwdriver, and then after the unit was installed, switching songs to check for any audio weirdness (none).

It was pretty simple to install using the VAIS instructions. I've never done anything to a car before except change the air filter, so if that gives you an idea of what kind of experience level you need to install one of these things, there you go.

I have the cable running into the lower glove compartment. I'd like to figure out a way to run it into the compartment below the tape deck, but that's for another time.

Sound is way, way better than the old cassette adaptor I was using.

After I eat, I'm going to go run some errands/give the unit a victory drive, so I'll post my thoughts on the usability of the unit at a later time.

Thanks again Danny for putting together the group buy!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rightonbro @ Jul 10 2006, 06:11 PM) [snapback]284099[/snapback]</div>

I used a small hole saw and drilled a hole in the back of the compartment below the tape deck. I ran the wires through the hole and installed my ipod and DICE box in the compartment.

 

Thanks! I will try that.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silly @ Jul 10 2006, 04:24 PM) [snapback]284124[/snapback]</div>

 

So I drove around this evening with the DICE unit in iPod mode and my 30gb video iPod on my 2005 Package #6. It works fairly well and I'm happy I got it.

Some observations and suggestions if somebody wants to forward this to DICE:

1. I like how when you turn the car off, the iPod turns off, and when you turn the car back on, it remembers where you left off.

2. Some of my Podcast title names aren't showing up when fast forwarding, and they show the last played title instead. This seems to be particular to KCRW and NPR's podcasts, primarily "Which Way LA?" and the NPR daily news summary. Titles are in the MP3 ID tags I believe.

One title that doesn't show up is:
NPR: News Summary for Monday, 10 Jul 2006 at 7:00 AM EDT

So if I'm on "The Official LOST Podcast," and then I hit the Forward button on the steering wheel, it'll start playing the NPR podcast, and the DISC line will show the NPR podcast's name, but it'll still show "The Official LOST Podcast" in the title. Perhaps it's some sort of special character (the colon) that's preventing the unit from displaying the title?

The logic for displaying track info seems to be:
"If new title is blank, don't display anything"

I'd recommend it be:
"If new title is blank, display a blank line"

3. Response time to pull the artist/album/track names from the iPod and display them on the MFD seems a little slow (like 3-4 seconds), but not a big deal.

4. If you quickly and repeatedly press the Forward button on the wheel, the system seems to get confused as to the number of presses you've made. Also not a big deal - just don't do it.

5. I did what LurkAzusa recommended and renamed/numbered my playlists:
01 - Top Hits (freeform playlist where I throw in whatever I want to listen to)
02 - Podcasts (sorted in iTunes by Date Added so the most recent one comes up)
03 - Electronica (genre)
04 - Indie Rock (genre)
etc.

They're a mix of smart playlists and regular playlists. This works well.

6. As somebody else pointed out, the behavior of the Rewind button on the DICE unit doesn't match the CD player. When you press Rewind on the CD player, I believe it goes to the beginning of the same track you're on. With the DICE unit, it goes back to the previous track. Not a big deal but it'd be nice if these matched up.

7. It would also be cool if the DICE mimicked the CD player in that every time you press Forward or Rewind on the MFD, the disc and track info appear on whatever screen you are currently on, in that thin bar on the top. Since there can be a delay for the iPod to switch tracks, it would be good visual feedback to see your action has been initiated.

8. In playlist mode, it'd be helpful if it displayed the playlist name under DISC rather than just PLAYLIST. I started getting confused as to what I was listening to when I was switching around playlists, some of which have the same songs in them.

9. It would be nice if the Title screen didn't keep automatically disappearing every 10 seconds or so and revert back to the map screen or the energey consumption screen. Is there any way in the MFD to change this?

All in all though....I'm just glad I finally have a good audio connection for the iPod, as I really didn't like using a cassette adapter, the 2005 model doesn't have the MP3 input jack, and the VAIS unit was too expensive for me when I looked into it (some dealer here quoted me $700 installed, and I didn't know installation could be DIY).

Sure, the DICE unit has some interface quirks to it, but you have to keep in mind that the Prius MFD wasn't designed to work with iPods, and anybody who makes a product like this has to work with the limitations of emulating a CD/MD changer and the MFD's user interface. I think they did a pretty good job. Worst case scenario, pull your iPod out of the glove box and use the clickwheel to do whatever it is you want to do (please be careful when driving).

So, if you're like me, and you have to have as clean sound as possible to play your compressed MP3 files ( ), then the DICE unit is good.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 11 2006, 12:17 AM) [snapback]284344[/snapback]</div>

Oh, that rules. Thank you!

Also, a correction: The Fast Forward and Rewind buttons on the MFD *do* mimic the CD player. Hold it down to fast forward/rewind through the current track. My mistake.

 

First off, thanks Danny for getting those out so quick. I got mine two days ago and your email said it shipped on Saturday. Awesome!
I installed it today, using the Vais directions and the mod previously described by LurkAzusa.

1. I had a problem getting the plug to hold in the back of the factory stereo. I pushed it in, but could easily wiggle it out, in fact, once while re-assembling the dash it came unplugged. Is anyone else having problems getting the plug to "clip" in?

2. I can't get the iPod to operate from the factory stereo or the steering wheel controls. When I power the car with the iPod connected I get the "checkmark" screen that says I can safely disconnect the ipod, and then the iPod freaks out a little (changes playlists, etc.) then comes back to the last song I was playing but then pauses the song. On the stereo it appears as if the song is playing (time on the CD changer is moving) but nothing is coming out. Pressing the different disc buttons on the touch screen, or the change track buttons on the steering wheel do nothing. The only way I can get the music to play or change track is to manually do it through my iPod.

So basically I only have control from my iPod, even though I have the DICE set to "Off", which should give total control to the Prius system, not manual control to the iPod. Any ideas? is it possible that there's a defect here? (besides me!?)

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

David (woodcreeper)

 

Mine wasn't loose at all. You have the V cable, with the bottom connector plugged into the radio, and then the longer cable (plugged into the non-empty plug of the V cable) going to the box, right?

If the plug is still in the back of the radio and you feel it is pushed all the way in, I would suggest pulling the power plug (small rectangle connector) in order to reset the unit. After it re-initializes, does it work again? The dip switches should have been set properly to DICE mode when you received it, so if you had changed them since then, just set them back.

Did you have the power off when installing? Any chance a fuse might be an issue?

Just thought of something else....do you have playlists setup? When you manually chose a song, did you choose it from the Songs menu of the iPod? If so, your playlist is actually 1 song long and so it won't progress to the next song, because as far as the unit is concerned the playlist is done.

Pick a playlist with multiple albums and songs and try it then.

Also, just to confirm, you do have the iPod connector plugged into the bottom of your iPod and not the AUX cable, right? Check D5 to be sure it isn't in AUX mode, instead of IPOD MODE.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rightonbro @ Jul 10 2006, 05:11 PM) [snapback]284099[/snapback]</div>

First off, thanks PriusChat and Danny! Got my DICE on Wed!

The screw below the duct is what's got me stumped right now. I'm guessing you had the same problem. I wish the installation instruction (big thumbs up overall!!) could've mentioned that the screw below the duct is way recessed, and a short screw driver does not leave enough room for a good handhold to turn it. Also my emperial sized socket wrench set doesn't seem to fit the nut, 3/8 was too small, and 7/16 was loose. Anyone using socket wrench to get it off? Any suggestion on size, is matric sized ones needed?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yunlin12 @ Jul 12 2006, 08:44 AM) [snapback]284932[/snapback]</div>

Since it's a Japanese make, it's probably Metric. Try 10mm, it's a popular size for small bolts. Most late model US made cars are Metric these days as well, though there are still a few holdouts.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ Jul 11 2006, 10:55 PM) [snapback]284760[/snapback]</div>

The iPod connector is plugged into the bottom of the iPod and then plugged into the DICE (the special iPod cable that came with the DICE)


So here are some more symptoms:
When I plug in the iPod,
1. I get a couple of screen flashes of the DICE "checkmark" stating I can safely disconnect the iPod. Is that correct? (since I don't want to disconnect it...it seems a little counter intuitive).

2. The CD changer starts "playing" although my iPod automatically goes to "pause" mode (so there's some tricking of the CD changer I assume).

3. No titles appear, nothing comes up when I press any of the 6 CD buttons. The touch screen has no connection to the iPod whatsoever.

4. I can only change/select/stop/pause/play songs using the iPod itself. When I shut down the car, the iPod continues to play until I manually stop it.

Just to clarify,
There's only one plug that can connect to the back of the stereo, right? Once installed there are two unused plugs, right? (one goes in the back of the stereo, one connects the two cables together, and the last plugs into the DICE box. That leaves one empty on each of the two cables).

I'm using the iPod photo with firmware 1.2.1

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So far I think I'm the first to get a dud.

Thanks

David

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(woodcreeper @ Jul 12 2006, 10:34 AM) [snapback]285056[/snapback]</div>

I would suggest you call DICE. They might be able to have you talk to a tech who could confirm you have a dud or resolve the issues.


DGStan

 

You should have only one unused plug at the end of the one that is about 6 inches long and is shaped like a V.

Connect the 22 inch long cable into the matching end of the 6 inch long V shaped cable. Plug the V shaped cable into the radio.

I think you are plugging the blank end of the V connector into the radio, instead of the one with pins in it.

 

Yeah, it's installed. 3G iPod in my 2004 package 9 (Nav + JBL CD changer).

I got stuck the first time without a long phillips screwdriver or correct size socket to take off the screw holding the white box. Got a longer screwdriver, and metric socket set. The screw was tight! The screwdriver was barely turning it, and was already chewing up the head. I switched to the 10mm socket. It worked like a charm. Pulling that bundle of wire aside, squeezing my hand in, figuring out which plug to plug into the radio, it took a few minutes, an I got a few scratches on my hand/arm. The plug that goes into the radio needed some solid pushing, I had to pull on it to make sure it's in. I turned off the car, but didn't bother to turn the radio off before turning the car off. My connection looks like this:

Radio
^
||
small solid plug on one split end of the short 6" V cable
||
big white hollow plug on the bottom (middle) of the short 6" V cable
^
||
big white solid plug on the long cable
||
black plug on the other end
||
v
DICE

Wish I can see the playlist title, but I guess the MFD only display the playlist #, I need to go back and rename and re-arrange my playlists.

One more question, after the installation, I ran the cable into the bottom half of the glove box, where the DICE and iPod are sitting. After reading some other posts, I'm wondering if there's a need to tie down the cable? The cables between DICE and the car radio are pretty strong, don't bend much, and don't look like they will move too much, so I'm hoping I wouldn't have to do it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yunlin12 @ Jul 12 2006, 03:20 PM) [snapback]285236[/snapback]</div>

I tied the cables in a couple of places, just to be safe. It depend on where you put the unit. Mine's tucked down behind the far right A/C vent cover.