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Wonky audio using iPhone 5 lightning adapter

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by dharris, Nov 7, 2012.

  1. dharris

    dharris Junior Member

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    In 2009, I bought a Grom Audio iPod/iPhone adapter for my 2005 Prius. Using a YouTube link I found in Prius chat, I installed it myself and life was good.

    I've recently update to the iPhone 5 and bought the $30 30 pin to lightning adapter to connect my new phone. It works sporadically. It seems like there's something not quite snug because any little bump will cause the audio to stop playing as if the stop button were hit. I don't think the phone thinks that it has come unplugged because I don't hear the disconnect indicator sound

    Has anybody else had a similar experience? Has anybody found a reasonable solution?
     
  2. Manksgloob

    Manksgloob Member

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    Hmm, I'm pretty sure it's NOT supposed to make a sound upon disconnect. Only upon connect.

    Are you using the 30-pin/lightning stubby adapter or the one with the pigtail?
    I recommend using the latter.
     
  3. bobeast

    bobeast Junior Member

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    The little lightning hole is very susceptible to pocket lint. Check with a bright light and a magnifying glass if the connector does not appear to be seating correctly. (ask me how I know)
     
  4. dharris

    dharris Junior Member

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    How do you know?
     
  5. dharris

    dharris Junior Member

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    So, buy a $40 adapter to replace the $30 adapter which I already purchased? Ugh.

    I may instead purchase a $60 bluetooth adapter and forget about wonky cables (or trade in my '05 plus $10-15k for a new Prius with bluetooth built-in).
     
  6. redsnow

    redsnow New Member

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    Yes, I've had the same experience with the same Grom Audio but for my BMW. I have the iphone 5 with the 30 pin adapter.

    I was happy to find out the the steering wheel controls still work and that the iphone 5 still charges with the adapter.

    Some bugs I encountered were... sometimes, randomly, the iphone 5 will say..
    1. "this charger is not compatible" the first time this happened I unplugged and replugged and it worked fine. The second time it happened I tried unplugging and replugging several times but the message still kept popping up. The battery was at 100% so I figured there must be some kind of miscommunication between the charger and the phone when the phone is 100% and the grom doesn't know what to do??

    2. The second problem was the random disconnects... I think this happens when the music player has been previously playing in the car or somewhere else. It usually happens after I'd been driving, parked and drive again. The phone will be plugged in and randomly stop playing through the grom. I press play on the iphone from the lock screen but it starts playing through the iphone speakers. So I unplug and replug, it will play for a little bit then disconnect again. What I think has been working is unplugging and then pressing play in the app instead of using the player controls on the lock screen.

    This seems to be a more of a software issue than a physical connection issue. Where the iphone does not recognize it's plugged into the grom when it starts playing where it was left off, pressing play directing from the ipod or pandora app will re-establish a "fresh" connection.

    I'm hoping this is an issue with other speaker and audio devices other than the grom so they can address it through ios updates.

    Bluetooth would be a solution but you'd have to have a separate cable to charge, pay for an extra adapter you potentially don't need, and lose steering wheel controls, if you have them.

    hope this helps!

    update:
    found this pdf while researching...
    http://www.pac-audio.com/PACProductData/PXAMG/3_Tech_Briefs/lightning_adapter.pdf

    seems to be happening to other devices too...



     
  7. JPL4

    JPL4 New Member

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    I have the same problem and found this thread while searching google.

    Grom box in my 2004 VW GTI. Same exact issue as stated above however I cant seem to find a workaround even when hitting the play button within the music player. The only thing I found that sometimes works is rebooting my phone after losing a connection while the lightning adaptor is still plugged in.

    I will point out that I am using the "cable"/pigtail adaptor and still having this problem. I also agree that it does seem to be software related and hope that Grom can issue a patch. I'm on the latest Grom firmware at the moment.

    To the point about bluetooth, I have the Grom bluetooth add-on with mic and while it does work without issue with the iPhone 5, including track back and forward buttons, you do suffer some loss in audio quality. If you dont turn your music up very loud you might not notice. I also have to juice the bluetooth connection a little more and it tends to amplify some engine noise in my case. Just an FYI.

    Good luck and hopefully we will have a resolution for this soon.
     
  8. Luke H.

    Luke H. Junior Member

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    I'm having the exact same problem with my 2005 Prius. I contacted GROM support and so far they haven't been of any help, instead suggesting that I simply buy a new adapter cable after insinuating that mine is worn out. I've since linked them to this thread.
     
  9. john roy

    john roy Junior Member

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    Experiencing this as well with my iPhone 5s running ios 7.0.4 and Lightning to 30-pin Adapter (0.2 m), using a GROM-IPD3 with the latest firmware (19). Sometimes it just works, and other times it will just stop playing, but still keep charging.

    Haven't experienced these random audio stream stops when using my iPhone 4 and 4s. I want to test playing music from local storage to see if it still happens, as I usually stream music from Tunein.

    Think I will order a new GROM Compatible iPod iPhone cable Assembly(Cable-ISIPD) and report back with my findings, just to see if it's my existing mini din cable causing the trouble.


    GROM doesn't specifically say that it's compatible with the 5s or lighting cable, but does mention this

    "To use this cable with "Lightning style" iPod or iPhone connector, "Lightning to iPod converter" is required. "
     
  10. john roy

    john roy Junior Member

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    Update:

    Received and installed the new cable from GROM. My old one actually had exposed wires, so that may have played a part in some of my issues. I no longer receive the "Accessory Not Supported" message when plugged in, and the random disconnects have disappeared (although they stopped when using the old cable after playing local music from my iPhone).

    From time to time, I do get a 'No CD' message right after starting up my Prius and attempting to play music; no idea what the cause of this is, but it can be fixed by quickly turning the car off, and then back on again.

    All in all, I'm satisfied with my current set up.
     
  11. MyOtherCarIsAPrius

    MyOtherCarIsAPrius Junior Member

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    Did you simply plug and play the GROM device into the CD changer port or did you have to do anything else?
    What radio model was it? Basic, no JBL, no Nav, no MP3 capability?
     
  12. HeavyFooted3SGTE

    HeavyFooted3SGTE Junior Member

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    Are you using a case?