Ordered the Dension ice>Link

What ended up being the problem? Did they send you a replacement Ice>Link?

After reading this thread I purchased an Ice>Link from EnfigCarStereo for my 05 Prius Package 4 (stock radio, no CD changer). Got it in yesterday. No installation instructions so it's a good thing this thread exists.

I'm leery to do the install myself as taking the entire dash apart seems pretty serious, and I'm not a Mr. Fixit kinda guy. However, I do like the placement of the iPod and ProMount (on order, not here yet) where it's just to the left of the MFD and above the vent, so I'd have to go the route of whole-dash rather than the VAIS directions (correct?).

I may call my dealer and see how much they would charge me to do the installation. If it's not outrageous it would be worth it letting them do it, hopefully correctly.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread.

 

Yes, to mount the cradle where I installed it, so that the cable enters the dash between the vent housing to the left of the MFD and the MFD hood, you need to remove all the dash parts.

But taking the dash apart is really not that bad. Seriously, it's not. It will take you some time if you are timid about it and really really carefully read the instructions, but except for two of the panels that require a bit of tugging, most of them pop off without much effort.

Here is a link to some very explicit instructions with lots of pictures.

http://www.chrisdragon.com/downloads/Stere...us,%20v1.03.pdf

You will need a screw driver for a couple of the lower panels and a socket wrench with metric sockets if you actually remove the radio. You could probably get away without the socket wrench if you do the "stick your hand behind the radio" method to plug in the connector to the radio, but if you want the wire to go into the dash were I have it, then you have to remove the vent to the left of the MFD and that requries removing the rest of the left side dash parts.

One word of advice... You probably will want to mount the actual ice>Link electronics down behind the bowed panel down at the floor over the hump. This panel is the one that has the cigarette lighter power jack. The cables are plenty long enough to mount it down there and there is a good spot behind that panel to secure it with some velcro strips.

The reason I am suggesting this is that my wife's ice>Link occasionally locks up. It's happened three times since we installed it 9 weeks ago. When it locks up, the Prius radio no longer recognizes that there is a "CD changer" (ie. the ice>Link) and doesn't let you choose it.

We're not sure what causes it, but fixing it requires disconnecting the ice>Link from the radio. The ice>Link is apparently always powered, even when the car is off, so just turning the car off doesn't reset it. Disconnecting radio cable from the ice>Link unit itself and reattaching it fixes the problem.

So, the reason I'm suggesting mounting the ice>Link behind that bowed panel over the floor hump is because this panel is easily removed without removing any other panels. If you are unlucky enough to have the same problems my wife's ice>Link is having, you would simply need to pull that panel off, disconnect the cable from the ice>Link, plug it back in, and replace the panel.

The first time this problem happened, I had to take everything apart again. I decided I wasn't going to do that again, so I chose to mount it behind that bottom panel. I'm glad I did.

 

Marlin: one last question. My ProMount should be arriving today. Do you recommend installing it _before_ the dash gets taken apart, or _after_? Or does it matter?

The ProMount installation I can handle but I've decided to wimp out and have my dealer do the dash disassembly. The peace of mind is worth the estimated $150 charge to have them do it. I just want to see if it would be better to wait, or go ahead and put on the ProMount so the dealer will have someplace to mount the ice>Link cradle.

Thanks again. Can't wait to ditch my God forsaken FM transmitter!

 

I installed the mount after I took the dash apart and before I put it back together. Basically, I snapped the mount into place on the vent panel when that panel was not attached to the car. No particular reason for it, that's just how I did it.

I suppose that I would attach the fixed part of the ice>Link cradle to the mount and the mount to the car before I took it to the installer. The ice>Link cradle comes in two pieces. One piece is where the iPod goes and has the cable attached, and the other piece is bowl shaped and attaches to the mount.

By installing the mount and the bowl shaped part of the cradle, you can make sure that the installer knows just how much cable to extend out of the dash. I was able to gently tug extra cable out from the dash to reach the bowl part of the cradle, but there's no way to push extra cable back into the dash if two much is pulled out. (Without taking all the panels off of course).

However, to install the bowl shaped part of the cradle onto the mount, you will need a drill. The mount doesn't not have any pre-drilled holes. If you don't have a drill then don't attach the mount to the dash, as it would be difficult to secure the bowl shaped piece to the mount once the mount is attached to the dash.

If you do install the bowl shaped piece and the mount yourself, make sure the litle set screw hole on the bowl shaped piece is positioned in a direction that you can get to easily with the alan wrench provided with the ice>Link to adjust and secure the iPod part of the cradle.

Good Luck.

 

Called DENSION today to confirm that if one has (as I do) the NAV option and an in-dash CD changer, there's a software problem with the ice>Link. The guy took my phone number and said he'd call in a couple of weeks when it was fixed.

 

Are you still having the problem? I am having the same problem. My radio will not recognize the CD player when I plug in the iPod to the cradle. It first happened when I plugged the iPod in when I had a CD in the changer and it was playing. That seems to have been fixed by resetting the iPod. But now nothing works so far.

When you said "you would simply need to pull that panel off, disconnect the cable from the ice>Link, plug it back in, and replace the panel", did you mean to disconnect and reconnect the cable where it plugs into that black bar thingy which I assume has the hardware in it) or to remove the plug from the back of the radio. Have you tried unplugging the fuse to the radio as is suggested in the iceLink manual. That would get to be a real pain in the neck if you had to do it too often.

Thanks for the info.

satchmosdad

PS: Which proclip model did you order?

 

From your post, it almost sounds like you have a prius with a 6-disc CD changer and you are also trying to use the ice>Link. The ice>Link is not compatible with a Prius that already has a CD changer because the ice>Link itself emulates a CD changer and the Prius radio only supports one CD changer attached to the radio.

My wife's car didn't come with the CD changer and in general, the ice>Link works great with it. However, the problem we have is that every once and a while, the ice>Link will stop functioning and no longer appears as a CD changer to the radio. When it happens, we can still access the regular CD player, but the "CD changer" mode is not available. When this happens, I have to "reset" the ice>Link and then it works fine for a while.

It's been a couple of weeks since I've last had to reset it. So far it's happened four times in the 7 weeks since I installed it. The first time was only two days after I installed it, and the other times have been about a week or more apart.

I've looked on their support site, but didn't find anything about it and they don't have a firmware update for this model yet. After the third time, we discovered that the iPod was runing firmware version 1.3 somthing rather than version 1.4 that the ice>Link manual states is a requirement. We updated the iPod's firmware and thought that maybe that would be the end of the problems, but alas, about a week and a half later, it did it again.

To reset it, I unplug the cable that goes between the black bar thingy and the radio. I unplug it from the black bar thingy itself, rather than from the radio. After pluging it back in and inserting the iPod, it puts a message up on the iPod's screen that says something like "Configuring for Toyota... Turn the car off and back on and then switch to the CD Changer". So, since it only says that message the first time after it's been plugged into the radio, I figure that it is powered at all times when it's connected to the radio, even when the car is off, and disconnecting the cable and reconnecting it effectively "reboots" it.

The first time it happened, I had to take the entire dash apart again because I had it secured behind the radio. However, since I figured it might happen again, I looked for a different place to mount it. I found that the cables were plenty long enough to reach down to the floor hump between the front seats. There is a big black plastic cover behind the bowed dash panel that sits over the floor hump, so I used velcro strips to secure the ice>Link device (the black bar thingy) on the black plastic cover that is behind the bowed panel.

That bowed panel can be removed very easily without removing any other dash parts. The last time I reset the ice>Link, I did it in dark parking lot at night and it only took a minute or two.

As for the ProClip mount... At the time at least, it was the only one they listed for an '05 Prius. Its the "Center Mount".

 

Just wanted to report that I really like the Ice>Link. Dealer installed it for the quoted amount and it works great and SOUNDS infinitely better than the FM transmitter I used to use. I've found that song artists/titles get confused occasionally, particularly if I switch songs. Other than that, though, it's great. No need to reset yet, hopefully the dealer put the "black thingie" behind the plastic cover where you recommended. Thanks for all the help.

 

I haven't heard anyone else complain about the problem I am having, so I'm guessing that I might have a defective unit. I suppose I should report it to dension. At this point, it is only mildly annoying, since it just takes a minute or two to fix.

So, since I haven't read any other complaints like I have, you probably won't have the same problem.

 

I am a Prius driver in the UK with a new 2005 Prius. I ordered the Ice Link Plus Last November from Dension UK and was assured it would work. They recommended a fitter who tried to make it work and could not. I contacted Paul Hanley at Dension who said I needed an extra cable which would cost me £14 from Toyota. I ordered the cable and got the fitter back. he still could not get it to work. Hanley told me the fitter was probably incompetent and I should get another fitter. I said I would like a refund and after some grumbling he agreed to give me one. I sent the materials back and he informed me that the Ice Linkdid not work with the Prius after all and they would refund my money for the original purchase and the extra Toyota cable. I then called for two weeks continuously as he constantly lied to me about the refund being processed. He constantly said he would call me back and never did and gave all kinds of excuses. I have finally been driven to posting this to warn other US Prius drivers not to even think about buying the Ice Link for the Prius as a) it does not work, and B) they do not refund your money when it does not but just lie about it.

 

Thanks for the information. I did try unplugging the thingey of which you spoke and it worked!!

 

It does work. I think the provisos described in this thread are that it can't be a 2006 model (but that they're working on it), and it can't be a model that has a CD changer (because it emulates a CD changer). So you can't say it doesn't work in ANY Prius. Works in mine just fine.

 

It works fine in the Prius as plenty here can verify. Perhaps you should try a different installer.

 

Marlin: a question about removing the plastic "hump" that you've mounted the ice>link behind.

Unfortunately, it looks like I have managed to do whatever it is that makes the ice>link unresponsive, so I'm going to hope that the dealer installed it like you suggested, behind the plastic "hump" for easy access.

I downloaded the PDF that describes the entire dash removal. I know you don't have to do that to remove the hump, but I'm trying to understand the directions. It describes having to remove the fake "screw" on the right hand side prior to unsnapping the hump panel. It says "stick your fingers in behind the panel and pull outwards." So I actually pull on the panel to pull out the fastener a bit? I guess at that point the fake head on the fake screw will be out enough to pull on the fastener head itself?

Just want some confirmation before I give it a shot. I actually had to listen to the radio during this morning's commute. Ack.

Thanks.

 

I am willing to bet that you will find that they did not install the ice>Link behind this panel as it is not the most obvious place to install it. I only thought of installing it there after I had to take the dash apart again to "reset" it and wanted to put it in a place that would be easier to access the next time. Most likely, the ice>Link will be taped up right behind the radio itself. But, the wires are long enough to feed it down behind that hump panel and secure it with velcro tape.

However, to pop off that hump panel... Reach your hand behind the panel on the passenger side, (along the back edge down near where it meets the floor) and give a quick firm tug. Don't go wild, but a quick jerk works better than slow steady pressure. You are only trying to pull it back about an inch or so. The plastic "screw" will get pulled out by it's head and may even pop all the way out and onto the floor.

Once you've taken out the plastic "screw", simply grab the panel on both sides at the top "tabs" and give a quick jerk and it will pop right off. The snaps are located behind the "tabs" that stick out to either side at the top of the panel. (The cigarette power jack is on the right side "tab")

You will most likely have to take the whole dash apart to reset the ice>Link and move it to an easier to access location. There are only two panels that are hard to remove and once you get past them, the rest pop off easier than the hump one does. (One hint, the instructions you downloaded talk about unplugging the parking button to move the panel it is on out of the way, however I found the cables to be just long enough to allow me to manuver the panel to the side without disconnecting the parking button).

 

The only reason I'm hoping they did is because I printed out the part of this thread where you described that location as being ideal, and I highlighted the sentence for good measure, and then gave it to them along with the ice>link. So we'll see if they did it or not... I'm sure hoping so, I really don't want to have to take the dash apart. Thanks for the tips.

 

I have the icelink for my 2005 Tacoma with in dash 6 CD changer and both the changer and icelink work together. I must be on CD #6 and the radio goes to AUX. Anyway if your icelink sometimes doesn't post the right song title you can go back a song and then forward or hit AM then the CD (or whatever button you push to access icelink) and that should catch it up. It works for me.

I left mine in the glove box since it is very distracting for me to use the ipod while driving. I also keep the icelink on random and when an artist comes up I feel like listening to I take it off random and then have access to the artist's songs.

 

I'm glad I didn't take you up on that bet. I popped the panel and sure enough, not there. Even after I asked them to... I guess I didn't ask specifically enough. Looks like a dash disassemble is in my future, and I'm hoping it's as easy as you've said it is. Thanks again for all the help.

 

I wrote Denison tech support and got a quick reply with the suggestion to pull the radio's fuse.

After some searching here I found the recommended fuse to pull (the DOME fuse, I believe it's number 39).

It did indeed fix the ice>link problem, although it also reset my trip counters, MPG counter, clock, and reverse beep came back on. But that's all better than having to take my dash apart.